


There's a hole in my soul (can you fill it?)

by Go_get_Jakes_gun



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: AU, Accidental Incest, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Human, Corsetry, Crossdressing, Death, Don't worry, Drugs, Eating Disorders, Family Drama, Femdom, Gratuitous Smut, Guilt, Heartbreak, Homophobia, Human, Hurt/Comfort, I do shit differently because I can't be bothered, I'm Serious, Incest, Infant Death, Infidelity, Intersex Female Alphas, Intersex Loki (Marvel), Intersex Male Omegas, Jealousy, Knotting, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Murder, Omega/Omega, Pegging, Protective Thor (Marvel), They're not technically related though, Thor's a saint, Toxic Relationships, Unhealthy body image, Unrequited Love, Uxoricide, Weight Issues, Wet Dream, also, because they're against Omega/Omega and Alpha/Alpha coupls, but like, corsets, dramatic fighting, dubcon, dynamicophobia, no real need for all these fights, no really, or so he thinks, outing someone, so much infidelity guys, so much porn, sorta - Freeform, this story really is quite violent, unnecessary fighting, wifeocide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:08:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 100,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25841131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Go_get_Jakes_gun/pseuds/Go_get_Jakes_gun
Summary: (Sorry Bastille, I stole your lyrics from your incredibly amazing song 'Flaws')A life altering decision on Thor's part during one of Loki's heats leaves him mated to Loki. Neither brother is truly able to accept this, and while Thor finds distraction in the arms of another, Loki is left stewing in his guilt over being mated to the one person he's wanted since the dawn of time itself.-------------------------------The B Plot: Laufey killed Loki's mother and his sons want revenge.
Relationships: Jane Foster/Thor, Jarnsaxa/Thor (Marvel), Leah/Loki (Marvel), Loki/Thor (Marvel), others
Comments: 318
Kudos: 302





	1. The most expensive Pound per mile ever

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I’m sorry for writing this, but I just had to. I know I have a lot of unfinished stories, and I am slowly but surely getting to them, but this came to me and I just NEEDED to write this!

Thor spat his gum into a paper and quickly tossed it in a bin. He checked the caller ID and picked up his phone. “Yhello!” He greeted, cheerfully.

“Thor, when are you coming home?” Asked his moody, grungy teen brother, Loki.

“Right after work, like I _promised_.” He reminded him. “I’m not so dense that I forgot about the Aesir Game today.”

He heard Loki mumble something on the phone that sounded rather like ‘could’ve fooled me twice’.

Loki had been living with him for a year now, since he’d moved to London for university. Their parents lived up in Birmingham, well _Thor’s_ **_parent_** , he supposed. Thor was their father’s child with another woman, he’d been born when Odin was in his early twenties, long before he’d ever considered getting married. And Thor’s mother, Jord, didn’t really want to get married that young either. Her parents had raised Thor until he was four, with Odin sending child support and coming to visit and take him on holidays. But one day while he was with his mother and grandparents driving to Sweden to spend the summer in Stockholm, a car crashed into them.

It had hit his mother’s side of the car, which was right behind the driver (his grandfather), so they had died upon impact. His grandmother, a frail woman, had died in hospital after three days. Thor had been lucky, he had only received a broken leg from the whole affair, and given that he had been able to play football for his sixth form college was proof that that injury had been almost meaningless.

The next member of Thor and Odin’s family was Frigga. Odin and Frigga had married when Thor was five, and had been dating for quite some while before that. As a toddler, Thor had been very confused about why Odin hadn’t just married _his_ mummy, but after she had died, Frigga was all he had left. She was unable to have children, so she had embraced Thor with open arms. Overtime Thor would come to know her as the most amazing woman to have ever existed (though later, when he had his own daughter, that view would come to be challenged).

And that left Loki. Odin used to be business partners with a man known as Laufey. An Alpha elitist and a misogynist who believed that all men should be born Alphas and that all women should bear them. They parted ways after a dispute over whether or not to accept an area of land for sale by a loan shark for a factory that they wanted to build.

_But Thor knew deep down that Odin had done far shadier things with Laufey, and that what made him most upset was that Laufey had had a son that he had just orphaned, and a wife who Odin couldn’t_ **_prove_ ** _had been murdered by him, but who had died of a ‘heart attack’ two days after Laufey had arrived from a business trip to discover that his third son had been born an omega._

When Frigga had seen baby Loki in an orphanage after spending eight days trying to track him down (her being a friend of the now late Farbauti) she had used Odin’s vast connections to adopt the baby boy, who she had brought home and dubbed ‘Loki’, just because she felt like it.

At Frigga and Odin’s wedding was where he had first met his little brother, who at the time was a full year and a little old. Thor did not know what a sibling was, but had felt fondness for the little creature nonetheless. They had stayed with Frigga’s mother (her father had died of a heart attack) while Odin and Frigga honeymooned in Turkey.

And the rest was history! It had been as though they had always had one another. During primary school, Thor had stood up to bullies for Loki, and when Thor had struggled a bit with his Macbeth coursework in IG, Loki had stepped in to proofread it and offer his own thoughts on ‘How sleep is portrayed in Macbeth’.

As they progressed through their teens, Loki grew more distant. Thor chalked it up to his whole ‘grunge phase’ thing. He grew his hair out, wore black leather jackets, smoked for all of two months before mother found out and screamed his head out (he hadn’t liked cigarettes very much, from what Thor had gleaned, so not a huge loss) and dated an Alpha nearly twenty years his senior. 

Thor supposed he ought to take some of the blame. He _had_ left for university at eighteen, after all, when Loki was at the ripe and tender age of 14. He’d gone to Cambridge to study Physical Natural Sciences, and had then moved to London to work as an actuary.

Loki had gotten an offer from Cambridge as well, for PBS, but had missed his offer by one A* in chemistry ( _stupid absurd grade boundaries!_ ). He liked UCL though, liked being in London. If Thor hadn’t known any better, he would have guessed that Loki had missed his offer on _purpose_ , the little snake. But Thor did know better, and understood that Loki had suffered the ‘senior blues’ and had all but given up during his last month of highschool, which was why it was so refreshing to see him bouncing around here in London with Thor.

Loki was lucky that their parents were rich, because _man_ did he like to spend! Thor felt so bad about it he slipped £50 into his brother’s wallet once a month to take some of the burden off of his parents.

It wasn’t enough. Even now, as Thor took the Tube home, he knew that Loki had probably bought some big, expensive feast for them from M&S of which half would end up going mouldy in the fridge. Thor didn’t shout at him for this or get angry, because he had been a student once too. He knew it took a while living without mom and dad to realise: oh fuck, I spend too much! It had taken him an entire _year_ at university to realise he needed to start getting thrifty. Selwyn was _not_ a cheap college by any means, especially the meals.

Thor hopped off at St James’s Park and walked to his apartment building. It was his father’s graduation gift to him, a stunning three bedroom penthouse which had, apparently, been his grandfather’s first apartment. It was also a convenient 20 minute tube ride to UCL for Loki. _Had_ his father been trying to get Thor to take Loki in? Thor didn’t care, he loved having his brother around.

“I’m **_home_**!” Thor announced, throwing his briefcase to the floor and making jazz-hands.

“Take a shower, you dumb drama queen, you smell like big, stupid, sweaty Alpha!” Oh how he loved his little brother.

“Alright, alright, no need to be so uptight.” Thor ripped off his shirt and threw it in Loki’s direction, just so his brother could get a big whiff of all that shirt _stank_. It took Loki a moment to realise what his idiot older brother had done, and so he writhed and hissed as he grabbed at the shirt and threw the smelly thing onto the floor.

“ _Urgh!_ You are **_such an idiot!_** ” Loki screamed. “I **_just_** got out of the bloody fucking shower!” 

“Really? Doesn’t smell like it.” Thor was not stupid enough to stick around, and instead whizzed right into the shower in his room (the master bedroom) to quickly give himself a rinse. 

He came out to the living room, his hair wet and his towel around his shoulders, to find Loki had already started watching the game _and_ had eaten all the bacon-cheese cocktail weenies (Thor’s favourites). **_Again_** , he was not stupid enough to make a comment on it, and instead reached for a cupcake.

“How’s the game going?” He asked.

“We’re up eight points, but they just put Byleistr on the pitch.” Loki said, absentmindedly reaching for a mini-slider.

“Oh, saving their secret weapon for the most important bits, huh. I hope that Tyr catches every single one of his fucking goals.”

“Same. He’s so _arrogant!_ ‘Look at me! I am Byleistr Laufeyson, I can do an overhead spin-kick and I also patented the spinning-barrel-roll goal’” Loki said, putting on a big, silly voice that made Thor laugh so hard he clutched his sides. Loki always got petty when it came to sports. In high school, Loki (still in primary school) had spent the aftermath of Thor’s entire first game talking smack about the other players. Their mother had made him wash his mouth out with soap after one of his comments.

“I know right, ‘I don’t need a team, I am _the_ team’.” Thor paraphrased a remark that had gotten Byleistr in hot water with the international football community.

“I hope they put Angrboda on again, he’s kinda cute.”

Thor wrinkled his nose. “That’s disgusting, ew.”

“Oh, and you asking me to proofread those love letters you wrote to Jane _isn’t_ disgusting?”

“Hey, we were affianced!”

“Yeah, ‘ _were’_.”

“I don’t see you doing too good in the game, Lokes. You’re almost twenty now, gonna need an Alpha to keep those heats from getting worse.” Thor teased.

Loki simply rolled his eyes at this comment.

It varied from omega to omega, but yes, generally by your early twenties your lust for a knot became insatiable. While ‘heat suppressants’ didn’t exist (heats weren’t exactly a regular thing either, mind you, they chose when they wanted to be there), birth control did, so one could get fucked and have no repercussions… well, almost no repercussions. There was always that chance that an Alpha would get a little too handsy and decide to mate you without your consent. Then you were frigging _stuck_ to them for the rest of your life.

Loki had only ever had a heat _once_ in his life, it had been how their parents had found out about that fucking senior citizen douchebag of an alpha that Loki had been seeing.

Omegas still retained their senses during their heats, or at least most of them, they were just super-horny, super-aroused, and super-sensitive to touch. A telltale sign that someone was in heat was that (if they were a male, like Loki) their cock would be up and wouldn’t be able to go down by their own hand, only ever an alpha’s. This was why some omega-omega couples (heats could sync up) hired a stud for their heats.

“Oh come on now, don’t be like that. Weren’t you talking about that guy in your biology lectures, Svadilfari?”

“The TA? He’s handsome, but hard pass. Too much potential drama.”

“What about that girl, Sigyn?”

“She has a boyfriend.”

“Omega?” Male omegas were fairly rare.

“Beta.”

“Then show her what she’s missing.” Thor punched Loki’s shoulder playfully.

“Well what about you, Mr. Hotshot? If you’re so desperate to shove me into somebody else’s pants, shouldn’t we at least get to talk about you being single?”

“Jane _literally_ just dumped me.”

“Nine months ago, Thor.”

“So maybe I _like_ being single. Maybe I wish I hadn’t spent all of uni tied to someone I didn’t even end up with.”

“Maybe I don’t want to repeat your mistakes. You make fun of my heats, but what about _your_ ruts?”

Alphas were primal creatures. That whole ‘omegas are somewhat in control’ thing? That was not true in the slightest for Alphas. For _Alphas_ there was a pill, one that Thor took thrice a day for the days leading up to his rut and the days of the rut. This, again, didn’t stop him having his rut, it just made him calmer through it, able to think more clearly and _not_ potentially be a rapist. Ruts were a regular occurrence, same general symptoms as heats.

Loki usually spent the week with a friend during Thor’s ruts. Alphas could be a bit aggressive if they weren’t fucking someone during a rut, and Loki had no intention of being screamed at for not taking out the bloody trash.

“Damnit, we’re three points down.” Loki sighed, as the commentator announced halftime.

“Pause, do something else, and then fast forward to the beginning of the second half?” Thor suggested.

“You read my mind.” Loki said, clicking the pause button. Bathroom breaks were the most common ad-time activity, followed by unpausing and playing games on their phones as the ads ran.

In the end, the Jotnar won. “It’s fucking Laufeyson!” Loki rolled his eyes. Here was the thing that Thor knew from doing a little digging.

First of all, it should be noted that while Loki knew he was adopted, he didn’t know where from. Second of all, the first time they’d watched an Aesir vs Jotnar game, which had been in front of their parents, the look Odin had given the TV at the mention of Byleistr Laufeyson had been all the confirmation that Thor had needed to know that yes, this was indeed Loki’s biological older brother. Now, Thor would never _tell_ Loki this, but man did it feel good to hate on Byleistr with Loki!

“Yeah, he’s the worst, isn’t he.”

“Grr, he’s the reason there are negative stereotypes about Alphas,” Loki said, petulant as ever.

“Absolutely.”

“Nothing like you, you’re so nice and stupid.” Loki lamented.

“…thank you?”

“You’re welcome.” Loki hopped off the couch. “I’ve got some homework to finish!”

“O-” the door to Loki’s room slammed shut. “-kay…” children these days.

.

So strange it was that Loki’s heat chose that night to arrive. Thor covered his ears to stop the sounds of Loki fucking himself from reaching him. He did his best not to imagine whatever the fuck his kid brother was doing in that room of his. 

Thor couldn’t complain. Loki had had to deal with Thor’s ruts fairly often as a youngster, had walked in on him once fucking a vase, so Thor could deal with Loki’s second heat ever.

The noises stopped and Thor heard some shuffling. He heard a key turning. _No, no,_ ** _no_**! He shot up out of his bed and ran to the living room. Loki was already gone, it seemed. He ran down the stairs and watched in horror as his little brother, who reeked like a bitch in heat (well…), got into a cab with some stranger driving it, and took off. Thor took whipped his phone out and hopped into a black cab. He turned Find My Phone on (Loki didn’t need to know) and told the man to follow the path that Loki was taking. The man said something but Thor just handed him £100 and he shut up and started driving.

It took them ten minutes to roll up to the pub, at which point Thor jumped out of the vehicle and raced in, only to find Loki on some strange alpha man’s lap kissing him hungrily as his hands groped to start undressing Loki.

Thinking before acting, as always, Thor ripped Loki off of the man, which it appeared the bouncer had been trying to do anyways. “Loki, we’re going home!”

“No! No, Thor! I need an Alpha, I need a knot, you don’t understand!” Loki shouted at his brother angrily.

“Hey, hey. Hands off of him, he chose me!” The man Loki was sitting on bared his teeth at Thor. The Alpha must be pre-rut, no wonder small, frail Loki chose the 6”2 big, burly, blonde Alpha.

“He’s my brother and he is in _heat_!”

“Thor, _stop_!” Loki begged.

“You’re not thinking clearly!”

“Omegas think clearer than Alphas do during their cycle!”

“And yet still not clear enough!” Thor boomed, thunder mysteriously clapping at that exact moment, despite no clouds being in the sky. “Loki, what are you thinking! You don’t know this man, what if he bit into you by accident!”

“Thor, I _need it_!” Loki burst. “Do you know how long it’s been since I last had a heat, how I had to-” Thor’s eyes widened. He got into the cab that was conveniently still there, clearly the man had been curious as to what Thor had paid so much money for in the first place. 

Thor handed him another £100, so he wouldn’t ask any questions. “ _Drive_.”

“Where to, sir?”

“Where you picked me up.” Was all Thor said. Gulping at the sound of an angry Alpha (poor fellow must be a Beta, Thor thought), the man did as he was told.

Thor threw Loki into Loki’s room and locked the door behind them. “Alright, mister, you’ve got some explaining to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, for anyone wondering, I can't believe I'm saying this but (le gasp) Angrboda is NOT going to be getting involved in Loki's love life this time! I know, shocker, it's almost like I reused that cliche enough times that I got sick of it, but anyways I digress. 'Saxa's still gonna be in it.


	2. When all of your flaws and all of my flaws are laid out one by one

“Suppressants, Loki, are you crazy!?” Thor’s voice boomed so loud he wouldn’t be surprised if the entire building had heard. Loki’s eyes widened as he desperately made ‘shushing’ signals at his brother.

Supplements were illegal in the UK and most other countries, because they had proven time and time again to not only be ineffective, but to also be downright _dangerous_. There were two main types of supplements that Thor was familiar with, from popping in to a few second-gender lectures at university (nobody stopped you from popping, you just had to be quiet about it and not interrupt).

The first type were what were referred to as ‘Beta simulators’ which was basically when you injected yourself with the polar opposite second-sex’s hormones in a bid to bring yourself to ‘neutral ground’ aka ‘Beta territory’. For an Omega this would mean injecting yourself with Alpha hormones and vice versa. The problem was, of course, that it was near-impossible to get enough hormone into yourself and as a result you were only driving your regular hormones even wilder which just resulted in your (in this example, for an Omega) Omega hormones piling up until they exploded and turned you from the normally _somewhat_ put-together Omega in heat, into a _mindless_ Omega in heat, which was of course _very dangerous_ given that most Alphas were sleazy douchebags who wouldn’t mind sticking an Omega onto them. Omegas couldn’t have more than one Alpha, Alphas on the other hand… yeah it was fucked, but that’s just how things were.

The second type was a hormone blocker, whose street name was ‘Amfin’. You took it and it was supposed to suppress your secondary hormone gland to stop it from producing hormones that would trigger a heat/rut. Surprise, surprise, it was **_fatal_**. Those glands, while having multiple sources around one’s body, were predominantly located near the throat area, and ‘Amfin’ could quite literally cause you to choke on your own bloody hormones as the carrier liquid would just keep building up.

“Thor, you don’t understand-”

“What kind!? What kind of hormones!?” Oh Norns, was he going to have to rush Loki to the hospital!? Loki could get arrested for this!

“B-Beta stimulators.” No, okay, that was good, that was fine. They weren’t lethal, they just caused you to go a little crazy. “Thor, I need a _knot_ , I need a _mate_!” Loki pleaded with his brother, but Thor wasn’t done interrogating him yet.

“Why, Loki, why did you do it?”

“Didn’t want my heats.” Loki mumbled, crumpling down on his bed into a ball. “I was scared.”

Thor sighed. “I can’t let you out, Loki, some knothead is going to knot you. And I can’t stay here.” Because we’re not biologically related and the more time I spend around you like this the more likely it is that I’ll go into rut. “I’m going to ask Sif to look after you.”

“Wh-what? You’re just going to throw me out!?” Loki looked up from his ball.

“Just for a week, Loki.” Thor pleaded. “It’s for your own good, please understand that.”

“All you ever do is push me away!” Loki made to stand, but Thor firmly shoved him to the bed, exiting the room and pulling the door to keep it shut. Pssh, like Loki had the upper-body strength to challenge Thor.

“Sif-hi-”

“ _Hi, this is Sif! Sorry, but I’m in Barbados this week with Fandral and Hogun! Please leave your message after the tone_.” Groaning, Thor hung up. _Grr_! What was he going to do now!? There was literally nobody else that he trusted to keep Loki safe.

OK, new plan, he was going to lock Loki in Loki’s room.

He heard a smash. **_Oh motherfucking no!_**

He flung open the door and wrenched Loki from the window. Loki had apparently thought that it was worthwhile to try and climb (at least it wasn’t _jump_ ) down the side of the building. “Fine, Loki, you win! I won’t push you away, you can stay in my room with me until your heat subsides!”

“Thor. A **_knot_**! I need a fucking **_knot_**! Why aren’t you fucking listeninG TO ME!?”

.

Thor observed his brother, who was cuffed to his bed with a handcuff him and Jane had… actually, let’s not talk about what he’d used it for, it seems inappropriate. 

“So can mother come over?” Thor begged his father on the phone.

“I’m sorry, Thor, but she’s ill right now. Is she came over, she’d just give him the flu too.” Odin said, tiredly. “Just hold on there, it’s only a week or two.”

“Urgh!” Thor hated how he knew so little about his brother’s rare cycles that he didn’t even know how long his cycle lasted. “I wish that he had a boyfriend or something, it wouldn’t be so bad for _them_ to mate, but **_no_** , he _had_ to be single!”

“Yes, well… just do whatever you have to do to take care of him.” Odin said cryptically before hanging up. Thor couldn’t help but feel like that was a loaded statement.

“Thor… was that dad?” Loki panted from the bed.

“Yes, Loki. He says he hopes you feel better soon.”

“Thor?”

“Yes, Loki?”

“Can you untie my arms please?”

“No, Loki.”

“But Thor, it-it’s burning down there. I just want to, you know…” Loki made gestures with his cuffed hands that made Thor a little bit queasy, especially the fist being pushed gesture.

“I’m sorry, Loki, but no can do. If I let you loose in your current state there’s no telling what you might do.”

“Then could you… you know?”

It took Thor a good minute. “What!?” He practically yelped.

“It’s no big deal,” Loki blushed. “Couldn’t you just… I don’t know? Not with your dick, but like-” he made that bloody gesture again. Thor wanted to chop off Loki’s hand.

“You want me… to _fist you!?”_

“Well, uh…” Loki blushed some more, pausing for a moment. “I don’t own any sex toys… but you could get, like, a cucumber or something from the kitchen. Please Thor? Just this once!”

Thor thought for a moment. “Fine.” He snapped, walking towards the bedroom door. “But if I do this then you are **_never_** taking heat suppressants again!”

“Lesson learned!” Loki confirmed as Thor exited the room and came back moments later with a cucumber. He shuddered, such a weird looking vegetable, how hadn’t he noticed it before?

Thor pulled Loki’s pants down and moved over to his dripping cunt lips, looking away he wordlessly inserted a finger (he shuddered at the tight, wet, warm sensation), wiggled it around, another one, scissored him, and finally a third, with which he went deeper to open. Loki, thankfully, was trying to stifle his moans to save Thor the embarrassment.

He wasn’t doing that good a job of it, of course, but it was the thought that counted. Thor eased the cucumber in. “Faster, Thor!” Loki commanded. Thor, sympathetic to his brother’s state of mind (he’d been there… every fucking three months, he was there), listened to him and pushed it in. “Oh, oh yes. Harder Thor, that’s it! Please stroke my cock?”

Loki’s cock, in true Omega fashion, had been hard and wet since his heat had first began. Thor, taking pity on his brother, used his other hand to bring him off. The moment that Thor’s hand touched the weeping member, it erupted, spraying small ropes of semen onto Loki’s clothed stomach.

Loki was panting rather heavily right now. Thor pinned him down by sitting on his chest (Loki had always hated that) and undid the cuffs to remove Loki’s now sticky shirt from him. Yes, he was essentially stripping his brother bare, but being aware of how uncomfortable and hot and sticky Loki must be, he decided that it was worth it. He re-cuffed Loki immediately and threw the damp clothes into the laundry. He washed his hands out of instinct and picked up a damp cloth to wipe Loki down with.

“Thank you,” Loki managed to warble out as Thor ran the cool, damp cloth down Loki’s fevered skin, aware to be gentle because peoples’ skin got really sensitive during their cycles. He paused as he wiped up the drying slick coating Loki’s thighs. The muscles of his cunt had pushed the cucumber. Thor grimaced at the sight of what looked like oils, but were in fact Loki’s fluids, glossing the surface of the cucumber. He’d never be able to eat one again, he almost puked. “Thor?”

“Yeah?”

“Can… can you please feed me the cucumber?” Loki blushed.

After five minutes spent vomiting into the toilet bowl, followed by three minutes running water through his nose because he had the unfortunate luck of being someone who vomited through his nose as well as mouth, Thor finally returned to the room to find Loki asleep. Good. He disposed of the cucumber immediately.

Make no mistake, when it came to sex Thor was one of the most frivolous people in the damned country, but this was his _baby brother_ , the kid that he’d been there for since day 1 (well…). It just… it just felt wrong.

He dialled up his work, despite it being only Friday, and let them know that he might not be coming in with a while for family reasons. His office was alright with this, given that he could just work from home, and asked him if there was a way that he could schedule picking his things up by Monday. He decided to head there right away and was back around the time Loki begun to wake up from his nap.

Ready for round two.

.

Throwing the cucumber away had been a stupid idea, an emotional response to the sight that he had seen. He had had to go and get another one. They were out of cucumbers.

“Can you… can you please just… can you please just shove your fist in?” Loki begged. At Thor’s startled look, he added. “Like a knot, you know?”

Thor hesitantly obliged his brother, adding his fist into the fray. He ignored the way his brother chased the sensation, trying to move his hips down to get more of Thor’s fist. Loki squirmed, clenching down hard on it. Wow, he sure had some strong pelvic muscles, Thor tho- no. **_No_**!

He was starting to fall prey to Loki’s scent and desperation. The Alpha in him was bestial, it knew how to do two things: fuck and fight, and right now he worried that it was starting to want to do a little too much fucking.

Loki’s sweet scent hit him. Before it got too late, he swept himself out of the room and went into the living room. 

**_Oil_** , they had cooking oil! He bundled a rag together and dipped it in the oil before tying the rag around his face, uncaring of the oil splattering all over the pace, he’d clean it up later. He gratefully breathed in the smell of thick, heavy sunflower oil, and walked back into the room with Loki in it, where Loki was panting on the mattress, having had orgasmed just moments before, seconds before Thor had withdrawn.

He looked at Thor and his mask and smirked cockily. “My scent getting to you, brother?”

_Urgh, Loki. Even in the worst of times he found a way to be an insufferable little twat_.

Without replying, Thor went to the bathroom, got another wet towel, and cleaned Loki again. The sheets were wet, which Thor hadn’t bothered to think about earlier, but he wasn’t so sure that uncuffing Loki again was a good idea, especially not with his own control being rather questionable at the moment, so he simply slipped a towel under Loki’s bottom.

“You could fuck me yourself, you know?” Thor’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, and he tiredly shook his head.

“Go to sleep, Loki.” Was all he said.

.

Now, because Loki was chained to the guest room bed, Thor **_obviously_** couldn’t leave him alone incase there were complications with his heat, or if Loki’s muscles got stiff and he needed a roll over, Thor would have to let him out for a bit.

Thor slept peacefully with the oily wrap covering his face, when he felt a weight in his lap and his suddenly the rag around his face was ripped off and flung cleverly under the bed where he wouldn’t be able to get it out from.

He scrambled upwards, alert and awake. _Loki._ It was Loki in his lap. Loki who was straddling him and had his arms locked tight around his neck.

“Loki, what are you-?” _How the fuck did he get out of those handcuffs_!?

_“_ Sssh! I know that you want it.” Loki whispered huskily into his ear. “Look at how hard you are from me.” Loki ground down on Thor’s now awakening dick (no oil, no safety net).

The fucked up thing was that yeah, Thor kind of did want it. By now he didn’t even know if he _personally_ wanted it or if it was his hormones speaking. Perhaps he had gone into a pre-rut? But Thor also knew that Loki’s mind was fucked right now. He remembered from that lecture that all the Alpha hormones that Loki had injected into himself could cause his mind to degrade to that of an Alpha’s during its rut. So whether his Alpha or he himself wanted this, it was a big no-no. Loki’s consent wasn’t really Loki’s consent at the moment.

“Loki, we can’t do this-”

“It’s just a knot Thor.” And that’s when Loki did it, crossed the final barrier between not getting a knot and getting one. He leaned in and smothered his sweaty neck against Thor’s nose and lower facial area while working his hands up and under Thor’s t-shirt. “Mmm, so strong.”

Thor’s resolve snapped. How could it not when Loki had practically smothered all of his pheromones right under Thor’s nose? He picked Loki up by the hips and flung him on the bed. Loki was grateful that it was a soft bed. He had barely any time before Thor jumped down on him and started kissing his mouth like his tongue was a groping hand searching around at the bottom of a car seat for keys that had just fallen down.

Loki moved Thor’s pants down, but Thor beat him to it, nearly ripping his pants off in his haste to _fuck, knot, breed_ Loki. As soon as his pants were off he shoved three fingers straight into Loki. He figured the little bitch could take it given that he’d just taken a bloody fucking cucumber (and Thor’s **_fist_** ) less than three hours ago. Thor was thick, sure, but he wasn’t as long as that cucumber had been.

“More, more.” His prey panted under him, and what was Thor to do but oblige? He was hungry and Loki was the meal he craved more than anything. He withdrew his hands and pushed in in one hard thrust that made Loki jerk up so hard he nearly hit his head against the headboard, where the cuffs lay unattached to anyone. Thor kissed Loki some more while thrusting, spurred on by the warm, wet heat clinging to him. Frustrated by the lack of space and access that Loki’s own limbs gave him, he flipped Loki over onto his stomach and started thrusting with wild abandon. _Breed, breed, breed_. He slowed down a bit and hit Loki up with some long, slow, _deep_ thrusts just to please the little bitch and prove his virility.

“Say my name.” Thor commanded into Loki’s ear, his chest pressed up against his back, burying his nose into Loki’s sweet, sweet pheromone-covered neck, one hand tight on Loki’s hips while the other pinned his shoulder down to the mattress so Thor could penetrate him from a higher angle.

“Oh, Thor, oh yes! Oh yes, _oh yes_!” Loki chanted Thor’s name like a prayer. “Harder, please!”

“My knot’s forming, do you think you can take it?”

“Oh yes, Thor, yes! Fuck me up! Fill me with your sperm! Spank me, choke me, _bite me_!” Loki begged, out of his mind with lust.

“Your wish is my command, bitch.” Thor growled out. He licked Loki’s neck, nibbling against it. “Here it comes.” Thor said, his thrusts growing harder as he forced his knot into Loki’s warm cunt. Just as he popped he took a mini-chunk out of Loki’s neck, causing Loki to orgasm hard around his cock, rhythmically beating against that which was sealed in for at least a good twenty minutes. A few more shallow thrusts and Thor’s semen was deeply embedded within Loki.

They laid there for a while, before Thor tried to move to avoid crushing Loki, and then stopped because he was dragging Loki with him. Carefully, he rotated himself so that his legs were by Loki’s head and vice-versa.

It was only as they came down from their respective highs, slowly drifting off to sleep, that Thor had realised what he’d just done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done! To those of you reading 'Oh Joy' and wondering why there was no update last night, it was because there was a very tense scene between Loki and Thor and the problem with it is that that scene decides how the rest of the story will go, and I don't want to make any snap decisions on that, so it'll either be posted today or tomorrow.
> 
> (Glances at Calendar... fuck, results are tomorrow 😭)


	3. The wonderful part of the mess that we made we pick ourselves undone

When Loki woke up, the sun was shining through the uncovered window, his heat was over, and Thor was nowhere in sight.

Odd, he sat up and felt a searing pain in his right jugular. His hand shot up to it by instinct and suddenly his memories of the previous night sprung to his mind. Oh no. He felt dread form a pit in his stomach. Oh no, oh no. What had he done?

_What had he done? Well, that was simple, he’d just forced his unwilling brother to mate with him, and they were now bound together for life_. He felt sick. 

Here’s the thing about Loki. He’s always loved his brother. **_Always_**. He was a **_slightly_** late speaker, but ‘Thor’ was his first word, and he’d never shut up about him since. It had crushed him when Thor had left for university. He hadn’t thought about it too much at first, but Omega heats were sporadic at best, and yet Thor seemed to just **_love_** triggering them! It was **_always_** when he was around, dammit. Thor was the whole bloody reason he’d gone on those damned suppressants.

_And now look at what had happened. You lost control, you induced Thor’s rut, and you begged him to bite and mate with you, and now he_ ** _hates_** _you. He can’t even stand to be near you_.

Thor walked in. “Loki, we need to talk.” Loki sat and listened. He had no words of his own to say. What was he _going_ to say? He wasn’t so sure that ‘I’m sorry’ cut it. Yes, he was less in control than normal this heat, but he’d still known what he was doing as he undid those handcuffs, had still crawled onto Thor’s lap after he’d already refused to fuck him. “Well… we’re bonded.” Thor said awkwardly.

And then, suddenly, all of Loki’s old bitterness creeped up. The resentment he had felt for Thor while he was dating Jane resurfaced. How come Thor got to feel awkward about this? Rage he would have understood. Anger, sure. **_Awkward_**!? How the mother of fuck did that even slightly make sense!?

“I’ve noticed,” Loki pointed at the juncture between his neck and shoulder. “Now what?”

“Loki… what happened last night, it was a mistake.” Great. “I am so sorry.” Please stop. “We can work around this.” Talking. “It doesn’t have to mean the end of everything, I’ve spoken to mother and father.” **_Your_** father, **_yours_**! And mother belongs to neither of us. “They suggested that we just carry on with our lives and act like we were never mated.” Loki wanted to throw a fit. **_Thor_** , **_Thor_** could act like he’d never been mated, dammit! Loki would have to wait two (if he had **_lots_** of sexual contact with a different Alpha) to five years with no contact from Thor to trick his body into thinking his mate was lost!

It all just felt like such a cruel joke, in honesty. To have the creature of your obsessions mated to you, finally after nineteen long years of life, but to have them want to end it as soon as it happened. Loki wanted to laugh, but Thor didn’t deserve to know his mental state at the moment.

“Good plan.” Loki said, tonelessly, lying back down on the covers. His mind was exhausting. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Loki…” there was something there, something Thor wanted to say, something he’d managed to glean from Loki’s choice of words, but to be frank, Loki didn’t really want to hear it right now. He wasn’t quite in the mood to take anything in.

“What?”

Thor seemed torn between saying something and dropping it, so he finally asked. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Bacon. Lots of bacon. And some Ribena too, please.”

“Sure.”

“Can you get the box of pills from my room too? I’m sore all over.” He hadn’t needed to say that, knew that Thor would have already assumed it, and yet it satisfied him to no end to see the way that Thor’s shoulders, neck and back stiffened, he hated to be reminded of what he’d done. He probably blamed himself for it.

_Let him_ , Loki thought, maliciously. _Just let him_.

.

Loki wore a scarf to school on Monday. Nobody needed to know, nobody needed to know. At lunch he sat with his best-friend, Verity Willis, a journalism student. She eyed the scarf with a raised brow.

“Nice scarf. New?”

“Gift from my mother last year.” He shrugged. He wondered how Frigga would feel about him wearing her scarf for this purpose. Actually, she’d probably already guessed it given how bloody Thor had just **_had_** to go their parents and tell them bloody fucking everything because of course he fucking had!

They must be sitting in their house in Birmingham feeling _sorry for him_ and he **_hated it_** when people felt sorry for him.

“That’s nice. Are you going to Lorelei’s party next weekend, _Svad_ is going to be there?” She winked at him.

“Maybe.” He shrugged halfheartedly, not really feeling much like doing anything. “Professor Blake set us an essay on how puberty changes the brain for homework, and it’s due in two weeks, so I might need next weekend to study for it.”

“Prioritising schoolwork, ooh, I’m liking this new Loki.” Verity grinned, before leaning into him. “And I’m wondering where my old one is?”

“Huh.”

“You don’t have to tell me now, but feel free to message me wh-” she cut herself off, not wanting to reveal how much she’d been able to guess. “Anyways, do you have any internships lined up for the summer?”

“Research assistant for Dr. Foster.” He smiled. _Jane’s mom_. “You?”

“Not sure yet, either interning at The Sun or The BBC.” She winked at him.

His mouth widened. “The- OMG, you waited until now to tell me!?”

“Well, yeah, if I didn’t get it I didn’t want to disappoint you. I only found out this morning.”

“You could be the next Emilia Stark!” Thor’s friend Tony’s aunt. She was well known for her hard-hitting exposés as well as her controversial fieldwork, like that time she got some interns to hire some _very_ underage prostitutes to expose an undercover Omega trafficking ring. They didn’t do anything with the minors, of course, but the nature of the crimes she was exposing, in people’s neighbourhoods to boot, had evidently upset a large portion of the general public. Loki remembered a time that a petition surfaced to get her fired for even doing that piece. Those were different times, but still.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Verity blushed. Emilia Stark was her hero. “Maybe more like a Vincent Banner.”

“As long as it’s not a J Jonah Jameson.” Loki wrinkled his nose at the Daily Bugle owner’s name.

“Ew, no, don’t insult me like that, I hate tabloids!” Loki smiled. Why did Verity have to be a Beta? Had she been an Alpha, he liked to think that they could have made it work… except that it just _wouldn’t_ have worked, now would it? Not with how platonic they were, and not as long as Thor was a part of Loki’s life in any way, shape or form.

Loki looked down at his watch. He’d need to leave soon. He got up and tucked in his seat, knowing Verity would be leaving with him.

.

Things around the house were awkward to say the least. Loki and Thor couldn’t even be in the same room as each other anymore. Thor had gotten the window in Loki’s room fixed for him, which had been a nice surprise when he had gotten back. He hadn’t wanted to go through the hassle of shifting rooms. And also, this put a full bedroom between he and Thor when they slept.

While Thor took his shower, Loki made dinner, he didn’t mind making two servings, he just wanted to be out of there before Thor got back. Throwing in three random sauces, some garlic powder and some salt, he put like a half a litre of water in the pot with some vegetables, chicken and noodles, and left to go take his own shower, knowing this would take at least twenty minutes to cook with the low heat he’d left it on, maybe even more.

He heard Thor’s door open as soon as he shut his. Ah, good, he was certain that Thor would accept the responsibility of finishing preparing the meal.

Sure enough, when he finished his shower, there was a plate waiting outside his room with a glass of water for him. He picked them up and went back into his room.

The living room was no man’s land. Neither of them had set foot in it since they’d mated. Loki had taken his birth control after assuring Thor that they were **_not_** suppressants, but rather in fact plan B pills. Those were the last words they had traded.

Loki curled his legs up to his chest. Was this how it was going to be between them, then? Were they just never going to talk again? He hadn’t even realised that he was crying. Nineteen years of brotherhood vanished, because Loki had been _so desperate_ to have sex with Thor, he had practically thought it his right in that moment to throw away Thor’s rag, to rub his pheromones all over him so that his brother would just fuck him and finally, _finally_ give him his knot. He was a rapist, dammit! No wonder Thor didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

Oh, this was so hard. He wished Thor were here right now to comfort him like he would when they were younger, but that was just impossible now. Not just because Loki was too old for hugs, but because… he didn’t want to think about it.

He took out his laptop and turned Netflix on. He had a homework assignment due in two days, but who gave a damn, he could work on it tomorrow, he was too upset today.

.

An entire week passed before either of them spoke to one another again, and that was by accident, because Loki had gotten home late and Thor was making dinner.

You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. “Hey.” Thor greeted, waving his hand at Loki.

Loki nodded and mumbled a quick ‘hey’ under his breath before quickly walking to his room and going to bed.

.

Loki had wound up going to Lorelei’s party in the end. Yes, she was a troublemaker (they’d always had that in common), and yes they’d always been more frenemies than friends, but Thor would be home and he needed his breathing space.

Loki clung to Verity the whole time, which the girl in question didn’t mind because her plan to the night was to go out and have fun while clinging to him. Best friend goals.

They wound up in a group with people who were playing beer pong, and maybe it wasn’t healthy for Loki to be drinking as much as he was, but with the week he’d had he kind of needed it.

He felt his phone buzz and checked it. There was a text from Thor. _Where are you, it’s late_.

Loki replied. _Sorry, party, forgot to tell you._

_Be back early morning_.

The little speech bubble was loading for quite some time, evidently Thor was taking his time deciding which course of action to take.

_Keys?_

_Got ‘em._ Loki replied.

_Have fun._ Thor.

_Ty! :)_ \- Loki

A heavy figure bumped into him by accident, Loki turned around. “Svad?”

“Loki.” The tall, handsome brunet cracked a smile. “Fancy seeing you here, I didn’t know you knew Lorelei.”

“We’ve known each other since we were little, we grew up together in Birmingham.”

“That’s so cool!” The Alpha leaned into Loki’s personal space. Loki felt a little uneasy, but he was 1000000000000500000% sure that that was his mating bond, because he personally didn’t mind having the handsome, handsome man near him one bit. So handsome. _But not Thor_. “So, what are you doing over here?”

“Oh, I’m just hanging out with Verity,” he gestured over to the table where Verity was watching the game with inrtigue. She didn’t want to participate, proclaiming that two glasses was her hard limit, but she didn’t mind watching people have fun. Especially given that Loki himself was very much still in the game.

“That’s too bad.” His eyes roved over Loki and zoned in on where Loki’s mating bite was. It wasn’t obvious anymore, the wound had mostly healed, but Loki supposed that anything could be found where one was looking. “I’m-I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were taken. Oh well, I’ll let you get back to your partying.” he flashed a smile at Loki and walked away awkwardly, his head slightly sagging.

“ _Oooh_!” Verity bounced up next to Loki. “Hot TA wanted to talk to you, what’d he say? Is he your new Alpha?”

“What?” Loki froze. Of course. Of course she’d figured it out. She was Verity fucking Willis. And Svad had figured it out. Lorelei had probably figured it out when she’d seen him, probably also Sigurd, they’d been laughing when he entered the room, it was probably about him. Oh Norns. He’d known Lorelei and Sigurd since he was a kid, they probably knew that he’d done it with Thor. They probably knew what a sick fuck he was, what a freak he was, oh no.

“Loki, you okay?” Verity asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He didn’t feel fine, he felt like he needed to throw up.

“Let’s call it a night, yeah?” She asked. Hesitating, Loki nodded. She grabbed him by the arm and they walked out to the curb and got on a bus to go home.

Verity lived two blocks down from him, in a studio apartment her American parents letted for her. Loki had suggested once, a while back, that she move in with him and Thor (he was grateful now that she had declined), but she had said, in that charming, American accent of hers ‘the only reason we’re still friends is because we don’t live together, Lokes.’

Loki dropped her off first. He was an Omega, sure, but his second gender was only dangerous during heats. When he wasn’t on his heat, people couldn’t even tell. And besides, if he were to go into heat right then, at that very minute, his mating bite would release a scent that would repel any Alphas away anyways.

He then walked to his and Thor’s flat and took the elevator up. It wasn’t quite the early morning that Loki had promised Thor, but 11:58 pm was still fairly late. He took out his keys and opened the door. He was exhausted, and the alcohol wasn’t making it much better. He looked around the room quick, he wasn’t going to be able to make it to his bedroom. He hobbled over, fast as he could to the couch…

And fell asleep on it with half his stomach over the side and the rest of his body hanging over the other edge, his mouth slightly parted as he snored softly, drooling a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao, I always write extra when I start out a new story, or in this case when I'm stressed. Results come out tomorrow, yikes 😬. It really is my own fault for not picking a better Insurance university though, oh well, we'll see how it goes.


	4. I'm coming home

Loki woke up in his bed the next morning, which was odd because he was fairly confident he hadn’t fallen asleep there. In fact, judging by the bruises he could feel along his abdomen, he had _probably_ fallen asleep half on the couch again.

He woke up and was surprised to find Thor sitting at the kitchen nook. They hadn’t been in the same room as one another for longer than three minutes since the morning after that night, had mostly been keeping their distance.

“Loki, we need to talk.” Thor said firmly, as Loki made his way to the fridge.

“What about?”

“This.” He gestured between them. “Us, mostly. Norns why is this so hard?”

“Maybe because we’re mated.”

“I thought we’d said we wouldn’t let it change us.”

“Yeah, well that’s pretty damned hard, now isn’t it?” Loki poured his milk into his cereal and grabbed a spoon.

“Loki… you’re still my brother.”

“And you mine.”

“So why don’t we start acting like it?”

“Again, Thor, we **_fucked,_** remember?”

“And I’m sorry about that.” _And isn’t that the worst part?_

“Don’t be.” Loki said, finally. “It was my fault-”

“No.” Thor said, firm. He sure was resolute on whatever it was that he was about to say, wasn’t he? “No, Loki, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Omegas can sense what they’re doing, we have more self-control, I took yours away on purpose-”

“No, Loki. You’d been injecting yourself with Alpha hormones, those have ill-effects on you, they create hormonal imbalances, you were just as out of control as an Alpha in rut.”

“Do you really think I managed togged out of those cuffs while being out of my mind? I knew what I was doing, Thor, I was aware of it-”

“There is a difference between being aware and being in control. You can be aware that you’re going insane and have no way to stop it.” Thor sighed. “Brother, please, I know that what happened between us was unconventional, but… let’s just forget about it.”

“Alright.” Loki nodded.

“Alright. And tell me when you go out, I was worried for you.”

“I’ll do that.”

.

In many ways Loki had been grateful for that conversation. They weren’t quite as hands-on with one another as they used to be, but the situation had definitely improved. They were able to have dinner together and be in the same room for at least an hour, ask each other about their days, and _mostly_ go back to normal.

And that was mostly fine and good, but there was something in Loki that left him dissatisfied. Again, he’d wanted Thor since he was young, now that there were no hard feelings, and now that they were bonded… surely, right? After all, 2-5 years was the _minimum_ , and surely Thor understood that, right? Surely he realised that even if they tried out ‘forgetting it had even happened’ it wouldn’t work, right? It was in their nature now.

Proof? Loki had ben fairly decent at hiding his pining over Thor back before they mated, now? Now he snuck into Thor’s room fairly regularly whenever he got back from school early so that he could sniff his used clothes. He liked his jackets best, because they felt warm and safe. He did not particularly enjoy Thor’s socks. They smelled like moulding cabbages, to be quite honest. 

One of the naughtier things he did was put on Thor’s underwear sometimes. He would always wash it immediately to get any smells out. He had to do this one rarely, because if he did it often then Thor would realise that clothes he hadn’t washed were suddenly being washed, and he might become suspicious.

He slipped into his baggy sweats and t-shirt, adjusting himself in a mirror to make sure he looked as tired-chic as he could, and decided to go down to the Thames and go on a walk there. He passed Thor on the way out.

“Hey… where are you going?”

“Down to the Thames for a walk.”

“This late? And dressed like that?” It was only 5pm, but because it was November it was pitch black outside.

“I like the cold,” Loki shrugged. 

“I know, it’s like you have ice in your veins. Wouldn’t you rather go tomorrow? Muggers like working late at night.”

“I’ll be fine, Thor, I have no money on me.” Thor seemed to contemplate it for a moment, psh, like he was in charge of Loki in any way, shape or form.

“I’ll come with you.” And because Loki was so desperate for them to be more close again, _and_ he wanted the conversation to end, he simply nodded. 

“Alright, Thor. Let’s go.”

.

Their walk was quiet. It was still better than before they’d had their talk, but… there was definitely something frosty there. Not just the November air.

London had a sophisticated, classist form of beauty during the day, during the night it was more of an urbanite fantasy land kind of beauty, accentuated by the city lights and the way they reflected in the Thames.

The Thames itself was not an especially beautiful river, but it made a beautiful mirror. Then, Loki supposed, it was impossible to not be a beautiful mirror.

“It’s getting late.” Loki commented thirty minutes in, when he was certain that it had been long enough that Thor wouldn’t get suspicious. “I’m going to head home.”

“Sure.” Thor turned to follow his brother home.

The walk home was also in silence. Wow, so much for all that progress they’d made, Loki thought bitterly.

.

And this was where their parents (finally) came in to help. It was a cold December morning when Frigga and Odin announced that they had leased Loki a flat in London.

Loki had tried his best not to seem too eager to take it.

Yes, he had wanted to mate with Thor, but not in the way it had gone down, and clearly not when Thor was so down about the whole situation. Maybe it was best that they start living their independent lives. 2-5 years apart before the bond broke down, sure, but it would just come back around if they met before Loki was mated, and if they met _after_ he was mated then it would leave him feeling horridly depressed as his body wouldn’t know what to do with the information that it had two mates. Fuck Alphas, they had it _way_ too easy. Not only would that have _not_ been a problem for Thor, but even if he _had_ kept Loki around he could have very easily handled another one to three mates at the same time (the world record was seven) without his body caring in the least. Stupid pack dynamics.

It seemed that Thor understood though. He hugged Loki and even broke down crying, but ultimately said little to nothing to him. It bothered Loki, that day that his parents pulled up, smiling like nothing was wrong. It bothered Loki that Thor came with them to the apartment to help him unpack, but still acted like everything was okay. It bothered Loki when after setting up the small but reasonable apartment, Thor ruffled his head for what Loki knew would be the last time, and then said “Good luck” and exited, just like that, from his life forever.

It bothered him to no end how easy it was for Thor to drop Loki from his life, to stop calling him and everything. He really must hate him, huh? He kicked the bar stool in anger, enjoying the pain it brought his foot. He knew it, he **_knew_** that Thor hadn’t truly believed in all that ‘your mind was like that of an Alpha’s’ crap that he’d spewed. Now Loki was out of Thor’s life and he’d probably never been happier.

But that was fine. That was all really good and fine, surely. Loki could be happy too, dammit.

.

_Nine months later_

Loki laughed at a joke Verity made as they walked to Kellerson’s, where debate soc was meeting up for a drink having had won a debate against King’s. Loki felt like he was on cloud nine. They cut through an alleyway and had two streets left to go down when Loki smelled something familiar.

He felt his mouth salivate and his heart rate quicken. What on earth?

And then he saw Thor turn the corner and enter the pub and everything made sense. Cursing his luck, Loki considered cancelling, but then Ronnie and Arshul were there and then he had no choice but to enter with Verity, now did he?

He walked over and felt Thor’s eyes combing him all over. Maybe he was just flattering himself? He was certain he was just flattering himself. If Thor was looking at him at all it was because Loki had robbed Thor of a brother. He took his seat next to Teddy Altman. 

“We ordered you each a scotch.” The man explained. Good, Loki felt like he needed one. And then another and then like five more.

“Can you go get the drinks?” Arshul asked Billy Kaplan after a while. Billy Kaplan did not like Loki, nor did Teddy Altman. Let’s just say that Loki had done something that caused something that caused something else.

Billy Kaplan nodded and left with his boyfriend Teddy to go and get the drinks. They came back a while later each holding four, and then went back to get some more. There were 23 people in attendance, debating was huge at UCL.

“So Loki, find a boyfriend yet?” A girl, America Chavez, asked.

“No, why?”

“Oh, uh.” She blushed. She’d heard about his mark now too, hadn’t she? Loki looked around the table, it seemed that they all had.

“Alright, I take it you’ve all heard about me having a ‘mating mark’ then, huh? I’d like to inform you all that **_no_** , I am not mated to anyone, that was just a stupid thing that happened during my heat. The Alpha and I both parted ways mutually.” He said, confidently to clear out the air of discomfort around the table.

“But how? What if you two run into each other again after you mate someone else? Won’t you just go insane?” A boy, David Alleyne, asked.

“He’s not from around here, and who says I have to mate anyone anyways? There are tons of relationships where the partners aren’t mated. I could just marry a beta or something.” Loki knew what he was saying was hogwash. Of course people took mating bites as the equivalent of being married, but right now he was super uncomfortable, and Thor hadn’t left yet, and… oh, look at that, Thor **_wasn’t_** alone, seemed like he was on some business too if the fact that he and the five other people with him wearing suits was anything to go off of. Oh well, whatever.

After a while, they dropped the relationships topic, and instead focused on their next match against Imperial coming up in four weeks. The celebration ended on a sour note as always, when Ronnie tried flirting with a girl who spilled a drink on his face and stormed out, and then America laughed at him.

Loki gathered his things and started to walk home alone (Verity’d hooked up with someone and he wasn’t waiting around to see what her post-orgasm face looked like) when a hand tapped him on the shoulder just as he had turned the first corner.

He didn’t even have to turn around. “Thor.” He said, frustrated. “You know we’re supposed to be keeping our distance.”

“I know, but I’ve missed you.”

“Our last goodbye was meant to be our last,” Loki groaned, turning to finally face his brother.

“I know, but Loki I miss you so much! I can’t live without you in my life!” Thor begged. Loki knew none of this was romantic, all of it platonic, but ti tugged at his heartstrings nonetheless. 

“Well what am _I_ supposed to do, Thor, huh? _You_ can have another mate! I’ll be single the rest of my life!”

“Not if you just date Betas!” Thor pointed out. “Betas can’t mate with you!”

That was true, that was very true. “I’ll think about… what are those?”

“What?”

“On your hands?” Loki took his brother’s big, warm hand in his smaller colder one. There were marks lacing them, bruises, it looked as though they’d been brutalised, chewed on by some dog with sharp teeth or attacked with a screwdriver, given the holes in them. “Thor, what are these?”

“Those? Oh, Those are just from during my rut.” Thor chuckled like it was nothing. Loki’s horror only grew as Thor continued. “I had to stop myself from finding you, you know, given that my body knows it’s tied to you. Anyways, I figured pain would keep my head clear.”

“I’ll go home with you.”

“What?”

“Home.” Loki declared. “I’ll go home with you today. We’ll get my things tomorrow.”

A sad smile crossed Thor’s face. “Thank you, brother.”

“Don’t mention it, brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Hey guys, as you might have heard, results day has been a giant fucking mess! :) Long story short, I pulled a Loki and now I'll probably have to resit in October and take a gap year if I want to keep my place, but fingers crossed there's a turn around or something. I'll never understand how giving us grades for exams we DIDN'T TAKE was fair, they should have just handed our reports directly to our firm choices and asked them if they still wanted us or something like that. Surely they'd be in a better position to determine it directly from our scores rather than a board getting those scores and then going 'hmmm, I think that's an A there, lol, hopefully her university just wanted an A'
> 
> Anyways, enough of my rant, sorry for the late update, I've just been so anxious. Hopefully this week goes better than last.


	5. All of your flaws and all of my flaws they lie there hand in hand

It felt odd sleeping in his old bed again, but comforting being around Thor all the same. He sniffed the air contentedly. He had missed Thor a lot these past nine months. Sleeping had been a chore, he’d felt unsafe the whole time, like someone was going to walk into his flat and snatch him or something.

He knew his feelings for Thor hadn’t died, would probably never die, but if Thor thought that they could keep doing this as brothers, then so be it. That was his mistake. His heart fluttered at Thor’s mention of having to stab himself to stop himself from coming over during ruts. Loki hate how the Omega in him thought that that was hella romantic. The human in him thought it was quite horrifying, personally.

He turned over, falling asleep on his side as normal, his mouth falling slack because _apparently_ he liked to drool.

.

Thor blamed it on having his Omega so close. _Wasn’t that a thought, huh,_ ** _his_** _Omega?_ Everybody knew Alphas had fucking high sex drives, it was why the Alpha to Omega ratio was like 1:5, back in the old days before vaccines and civilisation, back when everyone was a pack animal, it was always one or two (in the case of twins) Alphas to a herd, and it was their job to fuck and breed everyone else.

So yeah, Thor blamed it on his second sex that he was having a wet dream right then. A wet dream about his little brother nonetheless. 

_Loki looked up at him with those baby-doe eyes of his as he bobbed his head up and down Thor’s cock._

_“Yeah, that’s it. Feels so fucking good, baby,” Thor groaned, a hand on his head forcing Loki to bob faster and harder, not that he seemed to mind. “I bet you’re fucking leaking down there, huh?”_

_Loki garbled something that sounded a lot ‘Alpha’, but Thor couldn’t really tell given that Loki’s mouth was so full._

_He could feel his knot beginning to form. It wouldn’t kill Loki, and his mouth was obviously able to create a bigger hole than his cunt was (actually, Thor ought to look into that one), but it would definitely be a challenge, and the last time he’d done this with someone (Jane) he’d wound up with a dickful of teeth marks. Was ‘dickful’ even really a word? Hmmm, he ought to coin that one._

_“You going to take it? Take big brother’s knot in your mouth?” Brother kink?… oddly arousing._

_“Mhmm,” Loki hummed around his cock, making it even more excited and encouraging the knot along. Loki’s spit dribbled down Thor’s balls and between his legs, which felt pretty fucking good. His dick twitched._

_“Here it comes.” Thor groaned, hands on Loki’s head, forcing him down to accept the knot._

_Loki made a noise that sounded like a scream followed by one that sounded like a moan. When Thor looked down, Loki looked pretty damned complacent, like the knot had soothed him or something. He thrust a little bit more until the cum came in to flood Loki’s mouth, and then he slumped back down boneless. Unlike when Thor knotted Loki’s cunt, this one they could remove fairly easily._

_Loki widened his mouth a bit, poor thing’s jaw probably hurt, and climbed up the bed to give Thor a sloppy cum-filled kiss. Thor reached a hand down and fingered Loki quickly until he came too. Thor was exhausted, not rude._

Thor woke up to the sun on his face. He blinked the light out of his eyes and got up. He always slept without the curtains drawn because he liked to count the sun as his natural alarm. Well, on weekends anyways, he wasn’t dumb enough to try that shit out on a weekday, not with Nick Fury as his boss.

He noted the cum in his pants from that wet dream he’d had, and quickly took a shower to get rid of their smell, no need to agitate Loki. It meant nothing, really, it was just his biology that wanted it. They could do this, they could be brothers, surely? And sure, one of them might get randy on their respective times of the year, but they’d find a way around that, he was sure.

He walked into the kitchen and put some bacon on the stove. Loki entered the kitchen twenty minutes later, after Thor had finished making breakfast, the weasel. And perhaps it was because he knew that Thor wouldn’t protest, that he took half of Thor’s bacon too.

“I need to get my stuff.” Loki reminded Thor. “We can sell some of it, seeing as I don’t really need a TV or a couch anymore.”

“Which TV is it?”

“The new StarkTech Model 315.”

“We’ll keep it and sell this one.”

“Alright.”

They went over to Loki’s apartment that morning and started deciding what to toss out and what to keep.

.

The reason that Loki had slept so well that first night back with Thor probably had a little something to do with that wet-dream _he’d_ had.

See, Loki’d been having wet-dreams about Thor since he’d hit puberty and realised what a walking sex icon his brother was. So **_no_** he did not feel guilty about it in the least.

_Loki had gotten home from school and wanted nothing more than to take a nap, when he opened the door and saw Thor sniffing his underwear. But not just any underwear, the black lacy g-string he wore when he wanted to feel pretty, usually Mondays. And also, he wasn’t just sniffing them, now was he? He was sucking on them too. Honestly, this was all a bit concerning, and yet Loki knew he had no room to judge because he himself had done it a million and one times to Thor’s used underwear before._

_“Thor, what are you-?” Thor looked up, embarassed, but then in a split-second his demeanour changed, his face morphing into a cocksure grin._

_“Ah, Loki. I’d come across a most beautiful smell originating in your underwear, but now I guess I can taste it at the source.”_

_“Thor, what are you-?”_

_“_ **_Strip!_ ** _” And because Thor was the Alpha and Loki the Omega, Loki complied with his request._

_Thor stalked over to him and slammed the door shut, before hoisting Loki up with those big, strong arms of his, and onto his shoulders. Loki leant back against the wall for support. Thor shoved him further up and moved his head over Loki’s now moist cunny._

_Thor swiped his tongue flat over Loki’s cunt, which felt really, really good, and then went in for some more. Within a minute, Loki’s legs were wrapped around Thor’s neck and he was trying to breathe as Thor ravaged him with his tongue. Teasing at Loki’s clitoris, flicking back the hood and going for the sensitive nub all in. Tongue-fucking him, sucking at his folds._

_In no time at all, Loki orgasmed. And then again. And then again. Wow Thor was strong. Finally, his brother let him down._

_“What about you?” Loki asked, finally. And for that Loki got shoved down into pile driver, and Thor plowed him with his cock until Thor came deep in his belly._

So yeah, no, Loki had no trouble sleeping at all.

_._

“You should go to a doctor.” Loki said at dinner.

“What? Why?”

“To get that checked out.” Loki pointed at Thor’s hand.

“And tell her what, Loki? That I did this to myself? I’ll get put in a psych ward.”

“So what else can you do, then, huh?”

“Wait for it to heal. Alphas are fast healers, remember.” Yes, because it was their job to protect the herd.

“So, what have you been doing while I’ve been away then?” Loki decided to change the topic of discussion as there was clearly nothing to be added on the hand-thing.

“Just working, you?”

“Just studying.” He was about to ask a question about Thor’s love-life but decided that it would be inappropriate given how _he_ was technically now Thor’s love-life. Instead he dug into his spaghetti. Oh how he missed Thor’s bacon and cheese spaghetti. He had tried to recreate it the one time while he was alone, but Loki sucked at cooking and had had to take it off the stove before it burned his apartment down.

“I’m going out this weekend with Fandral.” Thor said. Fandral was a friend from their hometown, someone Loki knew and someone who would probably react negatively to discovering that Thor was in a sort-of-incestuous relationship with his _technically_ adopted brother. People hated it when you used the word ‘technically’.

“Good, have fun. I’ve got an assignment due Monday, so I’ll just be here.”

“Great. Sif’s going on holiday with her sister for a bit, I said we’d look after her dog, so she might drop it off.”

Rover was a tiny little sausage dog. Sif picked him ‘because he [looked] funny’ from a shelter three years ago. Thor had talked about it the entire weekend. Loki had wanted to stab Thor, Sif, and the dog. Never forget, Sif was an Omega, their entire childhood she had been competition. Loki had thought that he’d lost Thor for good until they’d broken up and she’d taken off with Fandral and Hogun.

“What about Fandral and Hogun?”

“Business trip to Rio, they’re thinking of making an investment there.”

“In what, a drug cartel?”

“Loki, Rio is a lovely place with lovely people and-”

“-and whether or not you’ll ever admit it, your friends run shady businesses, Thor.”

“Just because we cannot disclose everything publicly does not mean that the business is shady.”

“You’re an actuary, nothing you do should be closable.”

“And as a result everything I do is disclosed.” Thor said it in a way that implied he was done talking. Ooh, kinky, Loki’s eyes traced his forearms. He really liked those forearms. Fuck, he must be close to his heat, he better go get his suppressants.

“Well then, I’m done,” Loki gestured to his empty plate. “I’m a bit tired, gonna take a nap.”

“A nap before bedtime?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then, bye Loki.”

“Bye Thor.”

.

Loki moved to his room and lifted up his shirt arm. This was the reason he always wore long shirts. He grabbed the syringe and shoved it in.

_Good, good_ , he thought, as the Beta simulator worked its magic. Today and then tomorrow, and he’d be good until his next heat.

He knew he’d promised Thor that he’d stop, but the potential benefits outweighed the potential cons, and besides, he knew what he was doing. Beta simulators were non-lethal, and now that he was mated anyways no other Alpha would touch him. He was pretty sure of that.

He went to the shower and ran it till it was warm before slipping in. He just wanted this term to be over. School was **_hard_** , and he had a lot of interesting internships lined up this holiday. 2 to be precise, both in London. Next year he might travel abroad, maybe to Nigeria or Kenya, there was a fascinating neuroscience institute in Kenya doing research on Alzheimer’s, he wouldn’t mind a month or two there.

He stepped out of the shower and got a news headline on his phone.

_Hormone smuggler Nebula Thanosdottir caught in sting operation conducted by Scotland Yard._

Oh no. Oh crap. Nebula was **_his_** dealer. He doubted he had more than two heats worth of hormone left. Fuck, he’d have to act fast. Whenever he was around Thor he felt his heats want to come out _regularly_ , so that was maybe eight months to find a smuggler.

_Gamora_ , he remembered. Nebula’s sister, Gamora, he’d met her once. Teal hair and lipstick, he remembered, green eyes and a downright weirdo, but they both worked for their father and she’d probably have the hormones he needed.  


Hesitantly, he grabbed his coat. 204 Atlas Street. That was near Kennington Station. He grabbed his Oyster card from his dresser and pulled on his boots.

Time to see if luck was on his side for a change.


	6. Enter: Gast

It was cold outside even with his coat. Loki blew out a breath experimentally, and sure enough he could see a cold cloud leave his mouth. He walked quickly from Kennington and down the street towards where Atlas Street was located. 

Atlas Street was a notoriously criminal part of London. Magneto, Dr Doom, and even _Ego_ lived there. Loki personally had no clue how Ego was allowed to walk the streets given all of the women he’d left pregnant and unsupported. Disgusting! 

Loki walked to Nebula’s old apartment and knocked twice, paused, then knocked a further three times. The secret knock. The door opened and in he went.

It wasn’t Gamora, though, it was somebody else. She had black hair and a lip piercing. She wore a long-sleeve top with a low neck that accentuated her bust. She was tall and had pale skin littered with tattoos.

“Who’re you?”

“The name’s Proxima, who’re you?” She eyed him up and down.

“A friend of Nebula’s.”

“Same. Customer?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Adopted sister.”

“I thought Gamora was her only sister.”

“Our father adopted over a hundred children to run this cartel for him.”

“So do you have any? Supressants that is?”

“Fraid not, too dangerous at the moment. Cops are onto us, we have to lay low for a while… but there’s a guy up in Manchester, name’s En, everyone calls him The Grandmaster. He runs a cartel too. Appeal to him and he’ll be able to get some out to you.”

“Thanks.”

“No probs. And be careful, he’s a creepy old man, omega fetish.” Noted.

.

“Where are you going?” Thor asked, noticing Loki packing a duffel.

“Manchester. There’s a concert up there.”

“Need me to drop you?”

“I’ll take a train. Thanks though.”

“Kay.” Thor eyed Loki suspiciously as he left, but decided to let it go. After all, there was no reason to mistrust his brother, right? Loki wasn’t involved in anything dangerous or something like that.

.

“The Grandmaster will see you now,” a woman who called herself ‘Topaz’ announced.

Gulping, Loki walked into the man’s office. So he was corporate, nice. He wondered if this was the same building where he ran all of his illicit businesses, or if this was just his day job.

En Dwi Gast owned a good many things in England. He owned a line of luxury hotels, he managed some boxers (probably where he got the hormones), he owned a meat-processing plant up in Yorkshire (probably where he stashed the hormones).

“Yes?” The man said. He had grey hair and wore a business suit with a lilac tie. His thick-rimmed glasses sat atop his roman nose.

“Hello, sir. I need your help. I’m an omega in need of suppressants.” 

“Omega, eh? Sorry, we don’t do those.”

“Proxima sent me.”

The man’s eyes widened. “I see. So, what do you need them for?”

“I’m bonded to my brother.”

“Kinky, but that’s not how it works. You can’t mate a relative.”

“ _Adopted_ brother, I was adopted by his family as a baby.”

“I see, and how does your mate feel about you going on suppressants?”

“He doesn’t know. We weren’t supposed to be bonded, it’s my fault really, he doesn’t want it.”

“But you do. Oh, how my heart aches for a good love story. Tell you what, uh…”

“Loki.”

“Lokes, gotcha. Tell you, uh, what. I’ll hook you up with some suppressants, just give me your number.”

“7709943621”

“Excellent. We keep all of our hormones in an area that’s hard to get to. Can I have your hotel details?”

“The Giorselle, room 604.”

“Perfect, perfect. We’ll get them to you by tomorrow. A litre is £500.” Hmm, not bad.

“Can I go for 250ml? I’m scared it will spoil before I use it all, and a full litre is going to be a bit hard to hide from my Alpha.”

“Sure, that’s £150.”

“Thank you so, so much.” Loki said.

“No problem. Just keep me updated on that situation with your brother. I have a feeling it will turn out just fine.

.

Loki wasn’t back the next morning, which was to be expected. Thor was relieved his brother hadn’t stupidly tried to catch a bus back after his concert.

Saturday was cleaning day, and boy did Thor love cleaning! It was relaxing compared to his job as an actuary.

He was mopping in Loki’s room when he started feeling a bit angry. Why was he mopping Loki’s room? Loki could do it himself. He should go to the gym.

And that's exactly what Thor did, he went to the gym.

.

Loki was lounging around in his room reading _Ulysses_ and wearing a fluffy white bath robe. This hotel had a spa, it had been a while since he’d last had a spa day, maybe he ought to do one?

He heard a knock at the door and went to go and open it.

It was The Grandmaster. He stood at the door, a smile on his face, and handed Loki the hormones. “My, my. You look fetching.”

“Thank you, sir, that is quite flattering. Would you like to come in?”

“No, no, I’ve got to get home soon. That’ll be £150.”

“Sure.” Loki went into the room and picked up his pants. He reached into his wallet and withdrew £150.”

“Ooh, lot of £50 notes you’ve got here. You know, they say £50 notes are for criminals.”

“I’d hardly call what we’re doing here legal.” Loki remarked wryly. 

The Grandmaster smiled, the faint impressions of wrinkles crinkling in his forehead. How old was this guy? Maybe 50s? Quite handsome for a 50 year old. “I suppose that is true. Don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t. Thank you so much, sir.”

“My pleasure.”

.

Loki went back to London the next day. Loki liked train rides, they were calming. Unfortunately, the lady at the stand had booked him at an Off-Peak time, so he’d had to wait until like nine. He wondered how Thor was doing and contemplated calling him. No, Thor was probably fine, and it had only been a day anyways.

He saw the ticket-checking-person (Norns, what were they called again?) come down the aisle, and he proudly presented his ticket to her. She smiled and handed it back.

His stash was safely stored in his luggage, he’d lathered it in perfumes to mask the smell.

Alpha hormones smelled like _musk_ , and they made Alphas angry. It was like smelling a rival in rut. Alphas always got angry when someone in rut was around them. It was just in their nature. _Fuck, breed, kill_ , Loki knew that phrase all too well.

He got off at Kings Cross and took the Tube from St Pancras to St James’s Park and walked to the apartment, eager to get home and take a nice, warm shower, and then lay down in his nice, warm bed.

Thor wasn’t home, which was odd. Loki was pretty sure that Thor liked to clean on Saturday mornings, but whatever. Easier to sneak in the hormones, he supposed. He put them up with the rest of his stash, he had Odonil sticks up there to mask the smell. Hormones didn’t smell strongly so that was alright to use. He kept the sticks around his room top just to throw Thor off. Didn’t need his brother finding out he had lied to him.

He hopped into the shower, got out, dried his hair, put on some sweats, and started on his homework. Thor came back at around two, sweaty and smelling of musk. Oh how Loki _craved_ him right then. But no, they’d agreed on no sex. It was too weird (to Thor). Still, it didn’t stop Loki from wanting to lick up and down Thor’s gigantic, bulging biceps. Mm, he loved it when Thor flexed them, not that he needed to. Only an idiot would think Thor weak in any way, shape, or form.

“Hey, how was the concert?”

“Hm? Oh, it was fine. It rained a bit.”

“Yeah, I saw on the news. Glad to see you’re back in one piece.”

“If I wasn’t it’d be harder to eat all your food.”

“Little menace.” Thor ruffled Loki’s hair affectionately.

“Good workout?”

“Yeah. I saw your crush there.” 

Wow. Awkward. _Lmao, Thor, were you looking in a mirror?_ Obviously Loki didn’t say that.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have, I forgot.”

“It’s fine. Anyways, I’ve got some homework to finish.” Loki gestured at the pile of papers in front of him. At least you couldn’t say he’d made up an excuse to end the conversation.

“Yeah, and I’ve got a report to finish up on a potential investment deal.” Thor patted Loki on the shoulder awkwardly “Take care.”

“You too!”

.

Loki went to Verity’s to play video games.

“So, how’s the week been?” She asked, putting in Mario.

“Fine, how’s yours?”

“Alright. There’s a new movie coming out this weekend, think we should check it out?”

“Sure, what’s it called?”

“Monkey. It’s about this guy who gets stranded on an island and befriends a monkey.”

“Oh, so like Tarzan but without the apes and the orphans and all that?”

“Mehh, it’s supposed to be a comedy.”

“Sounds promising. People love monkeys.”

“They do, they really do. So, are you going to do Masters year or drop out after this one ends?”

“Masters, probably.” That internship with Dr Foster had been eye-opening. At first Loki had wanted to do Neuroscience to add to his list of skills as a programmer, but now he was starting to think Neuroscience as a career was more for him.

“Oh, then you’re going to do a lot of things with your beloved monkeys.”

“Don’t joke about that. I wouldn’t be involved with anything cruel. Hopefully.”

“Science can be cruel sometimes. Doesn’t mean you should shy away from it, only do what’s necessary. And if there’s anything **_unnecessary_** , you’ll have a friend at the BBC who you can blow whistles to.”

“Fair.” He smiled, punching her in the shoulder playfully. She laughed. Her laugh was like music to his ears.

_Why is it Thor that I have to be in love with?_

“If we’re forty and unmarried, we have to move in together.” He said, suddenly.

“Totally. We could adopt like three kids and raise them together.”

“Yeah. Fuck relationships, there’s nothing a married couple could do that we couldn’t do better.”

“Agreed, totally 100% agreed.” She smiled. “What are we adopting?”

“A boy, a girl, and we’ll let the last one be random.”

“Three boys? I don’t know, I don’t like girls too much. They lie a lot.”

“So do boys. Come on, girls are amazing. They listen, for starters, they’re responsible, they’re interesting to talk to. When I was a kid all Thor ever talked about was **_shoes_**. How the fuck did he get into Cambridge, come to think of it?”

“When I was a kid all I ever heard girls talk about was hair and celebrities, Loki.”

“You grew up in America, that doesn’t count.”

“Girls here aren’t much different.”

Loki sighed. “I guess the world is a lot more materialistic now than it used to be. Maybe that’s what we should adopt: time travelling babies.”

“Lol, where would we get them?”

“I’ll ask Thor, he’s the physicist.”

“You do that.” Verity hummed for a while. “I mean, with how cheap everything’s become, and how down-right depressing all this access to the atrocities happening across the globe is, can you really blame people from wanting to think about simpler things like hair and nails?”

“No, I suppose not. I think it’s also fair to point out that not everybody thinks like that. And a lot of the time when people are thinking about harder concepts, they don’t vocalise it. It would be really odd if I popped up to you at a party and went ‘You know, if we could get things to move at the speed of light, it would literally take zero seconds for anything to reach anywhere, based on the laws of special relativity’ or some shit like that.”

“Woah, is that true?”

“No idea, ask Thor.”

“You sure keep mentioning him a lot. No troubles in paradise, I hope?”

“No, nothing. But this conversation keeps drifting into physics-y stuff, and neither of us are qualified to talk about that.”

“True. Hey, doesn’t Thor’s ex, Jane, have a PhD in Physics?”

“No, not until the end of the year anyways.” Loki sulked. He hated how smart Thor’s ex-girlfriend was. What if that was the reason Thor kept denying their bond, because Loki just wasn’t smart enough? Jane Foster was going to hold a PhD at the tender age of 25, Loki was 20 and had _just_ decided that he was sticking around for a masters. He’d graduate at 22 with a masters and end it there, he didn’t really want to stick around for a PhD. And even if he did, neuroscience was biology, you didn’t have to be clever to get biology, you just needed to be able to memorise stuff. Physics you couldn’t do unless you had an aptitude for it, a raw and uncontested ability in maths.

“Oh, cool. Are they still in touch?”

“Yeah, they’re still friends.”

“That’s nice.” There was something in Verity’s voice that Loki didn’t dare question. He already suspected that she knew of his crush on Thor. He had corrected her on amultitude of occasions that he was only Thor’s _adopted_ brother.

“Yeah, definitely is.” 


	7. Enter: 🍑

There was a man interning at their office over the holidays. In his final year of studying economics at UCL.

Thor met this man in the break room, it seemed that Brandon was showing him around. He was tall, nordic, had fair skin and blonde, _blonde_ hair. His eyes were a crystal blue, and his face never seemed to stop smiling. This man was **_beautiful._** He wore the standard black pants, shirt and tie, and kept his long hair back in a ponytail. He smelled like vanilla ( _must be an Omega_ ).

“Hello there!” He smiled Thor’s way. 

“Uh, h-hi!” Thor stammered out, wow, so cliche. 

“Excuse me, may I please retrieve something out of the fridge?” The man asked. His voice was so beautiful. Thor suddenly felt stupid for standing in front of the fridge.

“Sure.” Thor moved out of the way. He glanced up and saw Brandon wink at him while Bucky face-palmed.

“Thanks.” The man opened the fridge, bent down to a lower shelf, and picked up a can of soda. “What’s your name? Sorry, I’m new here.”

“Thor.” Thor smiled.

“Thor? Like from mythology, right? Lmao, my name’s Jarnsaxa.”

“Jarnsaxa… that sounds familiar, isn’t that also from mythology?”

“Yeah. Norse.”

“Same.”

“Everyone knows who Thor is, silly.” Jarnsaxa rolled his eyes, but he was smiling the whole time.

.

Loki got a text from Thor saying he wouldn’t be home, that he was going out with someone from work. ‘Kay.

Loki hit up Verity. “Do you want to come over? My brother’s out, we can sit in the massage chairs and watch some trashy romcom.”

“Sign me up. I’ll bring over pizza.”

“Great, I’ll break into ye old stash of booze.” Loki hung up and grabbed a chair. He got onto of the chair and opened the cupboard right above the fridge. He brought down three bottles of strawberry liqueur and hopped off the chair. He grabbed two wine glasses (he liked feeling fancy) and put them all on the table in the middle of the sofa.

He then grabbed the remote and turned on Netflix. A couple dozen movies popped up. The Wedding Singer? Nah, he’d watched it five times. Miss Congeniality? Nah. Oh, what was that? Coyote Ugly? _What_? That was such a weird name for a movie. 

The doorbell rang. _Verity_. Loki went to answer it. “Hey, have you ever heard of a movie called Coyote Ugly?”

“Uhh, no, why? What’s it about?” She stepped in with a big chicken and mushroom pizza from that pizzeria right next to his apartment building.

“Strippers, I think? I don’t know.”

“Let’s watch it.”

“Alright, but if we don’t like it after 20 minutes we’re switching.”

“Fine.”

The movie was amazing. Loki literally loved every single bit of it. Hmm, maybe he ought to consider moving to New York and starting a music career. Verity’s eyes had been on Kevin the whole time. Loki couldn’t deny that he was cute, his accent made Loki’s legs quiver.

Verity yawned. “I’ve gotta head back.”

“You can spend the night.”

“Nah, I’ve gotta feed my goldfish.” She ruffled Loki’s head. “Goodnight, Loki.” She opened the door. “Oh hey, Thor.” Loki heard her say. Thor must be home, Loki sat up and hid the booze. Thor would never let him live this down.

“Hello, Verity. You and Loki have a movie night?”

“Yup. What about you, how was your night?”

“Oh, good, good. Quite fun, actually, you two?”

“Pretty fun. Anyways, goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” Thor walked in. “Hey, Loki, have a good night?”

“Yeah, how was your night out with your friend?”

“Oh,” Thor said awkwardly, in a way that slightly confused Loki. “It was alright, I guess.”

“I heard you tell Verity it was fun.”

“It was. It, uh, definitely was,” Thor walked past him and kissed the back of his head. Both unusual and odd, especially given their current circumstances. “Goodnight.”

“Uh, goodnight.”

.

The next few days passed by without much hassle, that was, of course, until somebody rang the doorbell on Saturday morning. Thor had gone out again the previous day and had returned home wasted. Loki had helped him into bed, enjoying the physical contact with Thor, enjoying that Thor’s hands were basically all over him, even though it was clumsy and Thor was probably just trying to stay standing up, not **_actually_** wanting to initiate anything sexual with his perceived brother.

Anyways, with Thor out of commission, the onus lay on Loki to open the door. He got up and walked over to it and turned the key and turned the brass knob and pulled it open.

A man Loki didn’t recognise stood at the door. He had crystal blue eyes and golden hair pulled back into a ponytail. His skin was as fair as snow, and he had _high_ cheekbones. His body fat percentage had to be something like 15% because that man was **_skinny._** And tall, come to think of it, he probably had like an inch on Loki. He was so **_gorgeous_** , but Loki could also quite easily tell that he was an Omega.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Loki asked the man, slightly defensive, his senses flaring up. It was only natural for an Omega to get confrontational around other Omegas, you **_did_** have to protect your home after all.

“My name is Jarnsaxa, I’m a friend of Thor’s. I came by to drop off this.” Jarnsaxa held out Thor’s wallet. “He left it at the pub last night.”

“Oh, sure, I’ll see it’s returned to him.”

“Super… aren’t you going to invite me in?” **_What_**!?

“Um, why?”

“Just polite is all, umm, who are you, sorry?”

“I’m Thor’s brother.”

“Thor’s never mentioned you.” Jarnsaxa’s eyes narrowed. “And you certainly don’t look like him.”

“I’m adopted. We were raised as brothers.” Loki said, feigning boredom. “Have a good day, thanks for the wallet.”

“My pleasure. Thanks for the cup of tea.” Loki had to fight to not slam the door in that irksome man’s face. Surely if he were trying to get into Thor’s pants, he realised that having a bad relationship with Thor’s brother was a piss poor way to start.

Then again, Thor had apparently never mentioned him to this ‘ _Jarnsaxa_ ’, so maybe he already thought that Loki and Thor’s relationship was sour.

Loki had half a mind to confront Thor about this mystery man, but by the time that Thor had woken up (noon) the fire within him had died down. Nah, he was just going to be petty.

“Here’s your wallet.” Loki handed the brown leather square to Thor.

“Thanks!” His brother beamed, open and honest, his expression full of gratitude. “I thought I’d lost this, where’d you find it?”

“Jarnsaxa dropped it off.” Loki said just as he was finishing the last bit of pasta on his plate.

Thor looked like a deer in the headlights. “Loki, I can explain.”

“What?” Loki looked up at him innocently.

“About, you know, Jarnsaxa.”

“What about him, Thor?” Loki feigned ignorance. “I assumed you’d start dating someone **_eventually_**.”

“Well, I- oh. Oh, uh, yeah, I suppose.” Thor shook his head. “Yeah, no. Uh, thanks for being so understanding, I guess.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Honestly, I thought you were going to kill me.” Thor laughed, missing the irony.

Loki shook his head. “Thor, we’ve agreed that what happened between us was a mistake. You want to move on, I want to move on. Why would I be upset about it?”

“Thanks, Lokes.” Thor beamed, despite that each one of Thor’s confirmations of Loki’s suspicions felt like a stab at Loki’s innards.

“No problem.” Loki got up to wash his dishes and disappeared into his room shortly thereafter. He needed a plan.

And slamming the vase holding his lilies into the floor was probably the worst way he could have started.

Loki prayed that Thor hadn’t heard the crash, but Thor knocking on the door all but confirmed it. “Loki, you alright in there?”

“Yeah! Sorry, I wanted some yoghurt and dropped a spoon!” He lied. “Everything’s alright.”

“Oh, alright then!” Thor sounded relieved. He probably thought Loki had broken something valuable, like their mother’s fine china or some shit like that.

“K!” Loki stared at the mess of broken glass in front of him. He’d need to pick it all up now, wouldn’t he? He should have bought a cheap, shatterproof one. Instead he’d gone for a vintage 1980s Romanov collection. The glass had very much shattered. He whipped out his phone to check if it was safe to do this with a vacuum cleaner.

Apparently yes [*please don’t take my advice], you just had to pick up the bigger shards first. He waited until Thor was back in his room, ran out to grab the dustpan and brush, and quickly swept until the larger shards were in it. He dumped those in the bin and went to fetch the vacuum. It was all over in ten minutes, but he was still too scared to walk in his room without slippers on.

Thor wouldn’t get suspicious about their vacuum, Loki reasoned, because it sounded an awful lot like Loki’s hairdryer. Loki needed to have a shower and wash his hair before he next saw Thor, if he had any hopes of keeping up this lie about a spoon falling.

As he scrubbed himself in the shower, he couldn’t help thinking about that Jarnsaxa. Blonde hair, blue eyes, seemed to be a thing amongst people Thor dated. Even Sif had blonde hair once before she decided to start dyeing it black.

Was that it? Was the reason Thor didn’t find Loki attractive because Loki had black hair and green eyes? He shrugged it off. Loki would look terrible with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he wasn’t one to change his appearance. No, not for someone who had known him his whole life, not with someone who wasn’t into him either way.

He reached for his bottle of shampoo and massaged it through his hair. Thor also seemed to have a thing for people on the slimmer side… he wasn’t fat by any stretch of the word, but, well, he **_had_** wanted to try that new Fiona Foster workout routing. The apartment building had a gym. Thor liked to work out there, he'd potentially be increasing his contact hours with the man.

_And he’d get to see him all hot and sweaty. Mmm, wouldn't that be delicious?_

It was settled. Starting the next day he was going to start working out at the gym. He reached down for conditioner and rubbed it through his hair. He’d need to weigh himself before breakfast the next morning. He'd need to take a look at the workout schedule too. He himself didn’t workout all that much, it’d definitely take adjusting to, but he’d heard some great things from the people who had started it. It was supposed to be an arms and butt challenge, 4 weeks long. He’d only ever done a workout challenge once before in his life, and had made it about six days in before giving it a hard ‘nope’.

They said the key to sticking to anything is to get someone else to do it with you, but Verity would kick him if he dared recommend that she should do this. Besides, she already worked out. She did a lot of kickboxing. 

He stepped out of the shower. Loki grabbed his towel and went to sit at his vanity (yes, the room **_was_** big enough for him to have both a vanity and a desk). He took out the hairdryer and quickly gave himself a blow off. He then went to go and put on some clothes.

He spent the rest of the day doing maths problems (sometimes he regretted having not just gone to Warwick to study maths). When the time came to next see Thor, he was ready with his alibi for the noise the vacuum had caused.

The thing about Loki’s hair was that it got quite oily quite fast, so if you looked at in and saw no oil you’d assume he’d washed it within a twelve hour period. And he noticed when Thor glanced towards his hair before staying quiet. _Worked like a charm_!

“Oh, you made dinner.” Loki said, glancing at the hotdogs Thor had made. 4 hotdogs, two for Thor and two for Loki.

“Well, yeah, for the game, remember? It’s the Jotnar vs Liverpool.”

“Why do we care about the Jotnar all of a sudden?”

“Because we love hating on them.”

“Fair.” Loki grabbed two beers and followed Thor to the couch. Loki noticed the wary, disapproving look in Thor’s eyes when Loki popped open his beer. “What?”

“Oh, uh, nothing.” Thor blushed at having been caught out. “Uhm, I hope they haven’t started yet.”

“Mmm, Byleistr’s probably running late or something.” Loki rolled his eyes. The game **_hadn’t_** started yet, instead the studio commentary had. Something something, Byleistr Laufeyson, something something, Angrboda, something. Blah, blah, **_blah_** , get on with already, yeesh. 

Finally, the game started. As per the norm, Byleistr didn’t start out on the pitch. There was a closeup cam of him and Angrboda discussing something heatedly. “And right here we have two of the Jotnar’s star players, Angrboda Thiazison and Byleistr Laufeyson discussing a battle tactic and- oh, oh, it looks like Angrboda’s going into play.” The announcer said in that funny accent of his (Northern?). Sure enough the ref blew a whistle and a man, Graffli, took a seat on the bench as Angrboda ran out to play striker.

“Good move.” Loki nodded, impressed.

“Yeah. Wonder if ‘pool know what they’re up against.”

“Must do, they have a good coach. No way he hasn’t watched past Jotunheimr games.”

“Think the Iceland’s gonna make the World Cup for ’22?”

“Definitely. Especially with Laufeyson playing the field.” Loki said, entranced. He took another sip of his beer, noting that once more Thor’s eyes followed the bottle as it both went to his face and left it.

“Yeah, probably.” Thor said. “They’re in Liverpool right now, think they’ll come down to London?”

“Well, probably. Why visit the UK and **_not_** come here, right? Why are you asking?”

“Oh, nothing, just curious.” Thor said. Loki didn’t bother asking more. Whenever Thor got that far-away look in his eyes it was pointless talking to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *le gasp* What is this, you ask? A self-sure Jarnsaxa with an insecure Loki? The horror! 
> 
> JK, there really is more to unpack here. Also, might go back on my word about no Loki x Angrboda, just no DRAMATIC Loki x Angrboda, I'm definitely not putting them in a relationship in this fic, but since it's obvious that the Jotnar are coming to town anyways, I might just warn you all that they might flirt. They will not, I repeat, WILL NOT end up in a true and proper relationship, but, you know, cheat lists exists.
> 
> Ty!


	8. Ones we've inherited ones that we've learned

Loki walked down to the gym **_early_** the next day. He took his Airpods, phone, bottle and a small towel with him.

“ _Hey guys, it’s ya girl Fiona here! Time to get_ ** _sweaty!_** _Aight, now today’s really simple, I’ve got a great one for you to start with on day 1. Remember, the difference between the you that wanted to get in shape and the you right now is that you’re here right now, and that’s not gonna change if you give up._

_Alright, let’s get started. Quick little warmup, just hop onto the treadmill. We’re gonna take it nice and slow. Put it at 5km per hour and begin to walk. Nice, good, that’s it, that’s nice. Alright guys, we’re almost there. Good. Now when the little bar above me fills up we’re gonna put the treadmill on 7 km per hour for thirty seconds. You with me? Here we go! Come on! And 3, 2, 1!_ ”

Loki hit the button and began to run. It was alright, not really that fast.

For the first five seconds.

He glanced at the timer thingy, it was less than a third of the way full. Urgh. He panted, this was too hard, this was too hard, this was too hard! He switched it back to 5 and walked while taking huge gulps of air in.

“ _Good job! Now take in some deep breaths, and we’re gonna do this 3 more times_!” Oh fucking hell.

.

By the time that the workout was over, Loki was practically crawling into the elevator. He’d stretched extra well, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to move the next day, before wiping down his area and taking a large gulp of water from the bottle he’d had to refill three times. Oh well, at least you couldn’t say he hadn’t drank enough.

What was supposed to have been a thirty minute workout had taken an hour and twenty minutes due to how often he’d had to stop the damned video. Good thing he’d gone early, the scene had been embarrassing! Doubly good, he supposed, that he hadn’t asked Verity to join him.

Loki slammed the button and the elevator started moving. He panted, trying to straighten himself up lest anybody entered. The door opened and he trudged out and down the hall to the penthouse.

He opened the door, and there Thor was in his shorts and wife beater, ready to go down to the gym.

“Loki?” Thor frowned. “Were you at the gym?”

“Yeah. I work out now.” Loki did jazz-hands. “Why?”

“Well nothing, it’s just, uhm… never mind.” Thor shook his head. Loki would have (and should have) thought more on that, but he really just wanted to find a cool surface to lie down on. He chose the kitchen counter for that and heard Thor shut the door.

.

As per what had recently become the norm, Loki joined Verity and a few of their friends down at the pub by UCL for a few pints. He enjoyed the walk there, which was a nice way to work his muscles given how he’d just **_murdered them_** that morning.

The basic idea was that since it was a Sunday, and neither he, Verity, David, Kate, Peter, Nathaniel, Cassie or Noh-Varr had any lessons this year on a Monday morning, so if they all got hangovers they could quite easily sleep them off.

“Do they serve Vodka here?” Verity asked, slumping into the booth next to Loki. The last he’d seen her she’d been flirting with another redhead. Poor Verity must have struck out. Oh well, at least he wasn’t the only one, he supposed.

“Maybe?”

“Come with me to check?”

“I’m tired.” He whined as she dragged him to the counter.

“Why? It’s only 9.”

“I know, but I worked out all morning.” Verity lifted an eyebrow, impressed.

“Woo, look at you mister big shot, getting all macho man are we?”

“I-” the door swung open and in walked an uncomfortable-looking Thor, with his official-unofficial boyfriend, Jarnsaxa, and about ten big, sweaty jocks whom Loki instantaneously recognised as the Jotnar. Fuck.

Thor’s eyes met Loki’s and widened upon landing. Loki held up a thumb to point at himself, then point at his group. Thor nodded.

“Was that Thor? Who were those with him?”

“That was his boyfriend and the Jotnar.”

“Jotnar?”

“Soccer team.”

“Ah, sounded familiar. Aren’t they the Aesir’s arch-rivals.”

“So you _have_ heard of them?” Loki looked impressed.

“Well, **_duh_** , the Aesir are literally the best.”

“They always lose to the Jotnar. I blame it on Byleistr.”

“Which one’s Byleistr?”

“See the tall one? With the black hair, burly, mean blue eyes?”

“Oh yeah, nope, I see him. He has an arm around the blond one’s shoulder.”

“Jarnsaxa, that’s Thor’s boyfriend.”

“Sorry to hear.” Verity said, which was kinda weird, because Loki could have sworn he’d never told her… he hadn’t, right?

“It’s alright. Anyways, I don’t know what they’re doing with them.”

“Peter’s looking at us. OMG, he probably thinks we’re talking about them, we’ve got to go back.” Verity tugged Loki back to their friends.

“What took you so long?” David asked, unimpressed. 

“Oh, you know, just gossiping about you all.” Loki joked.

“Did you guys see the people that just walked in here?” Noh-Varr asked, seriously. “Guys, it’s the Jotnar. Better yet, Byleistr Laufeyson and Angrboda Thiazison are in the bar with us.”

“Wh- who?” Loki feigned ignorance, and Verity didn’t point it out. Bromance level 5000 right there. 

“The Jotnar. Only some of **_the_** best football players in our generation. Is that- Loki, is that your brother over there? Loki, you have **_got_** to introduce me.” Noh-Varr begged.

“Thor doesn’t know _or_ like them. If they’re here with anyone, it’s with Thor’s new boyfriend, who hates me. You’re better off waiting for them to eventually disperse and fizzle into and around the bar and then going to ask one of them individually for their autographs.” Loki commented, dryly.

“Okay.” Noh-Varr deflated, always a sad thing to see.

“I’ve got cards, anyone wanna play bluff?” David asked.

“There’s eight of us, won’t that cut the deck a bit thin?”

“I’ve got two decks,” He smirked.

“The David Alleyne wants us to play a game where you win by lying? Well then, I’ve officially seen everything.” Loki joked. David just rolled his eyes at him and started shuffling the two decks. Sometimes it annoyed him that Loki always seemed to find it necessary to make some stupid joke.

He handed the cards out and went first. “Three aces.” The trick of this game, Loki knew from experience, was to never call David out because he never lied.

“Two twos.” Peter put his cards down.

“Four threes.” Verity went. Another trick of this game, Loki knew from experience, was to always let Verity call out the lies. The chick was like a human lie-detector for crying out loud.

“Eight fours.” Loki put them all down, shocking everyone. He smirked. It was a complete stroke of luck, obviously, that he had had them in the first place. The truth was sometimes less believable than a lie, so-

“Bluff.” Called Cassie.

“Take them then.” He smirked.

To her and most people on the table’s (sans Verity’s) utter disbelief, there were in fact eight fours. Grumpily, she picked them up. Loki went again as he had been in the right. “Four sevens.” One card left bitches. He had lied this time but people rarely ever suspected it on the first round. Even Verity seemed a little unsure. Loki was the only one who had ever managed to successfully lie to her. Not that she knew it, nor would she ever know it.

“Five sixes.” Cassie said. 

“Bluff.” Sang Verity.

“Dammit.” She took the cards back again.

“A nine.” Verity went, as she had been in the right.

“Ten. I win.” Loki smirked.

They played four more rounds and Loki won every single one. Honestly, sometimes he felt like he was just **_gifted_** at lying.

“I need another drink.” Verity said.

“Same.” David agreed, “I’m not **_nearly_** smashed enough. I thought our GC was called Hangover Mondays for a reason.”

“We’ll go get more drinks.” Loki offered. He and Verity could easily carry four back a piece. Especially if everyone just asked for beer again.

“Beer.” Was heard five times. Peter wanted a water. Nerd.

Loki and Verity headed back to the bar. More gossipy time. “They’re still here.” Verity observed. “But they’ve spread out a bit.”

“Oh, Thor still with the Blonde?”

“Yup. They’re the only ones left in their booth, they’re flirting quite a bit. Sorry.”

“What for?”

“It’s just, umm… never mind.” She said for the second time that night, irritating him a bit. 

“Hiya, what can I get you two?” The female Beta asked. She looked friendly, she had neon green braids and thick-rimmed glasses. She was **_so_** Verity’s type.

“Seven beers and a glass of water, please.” Verity asked. 

“Sure, I’ll be right back!” She smiled.

“She **_so_** wants you to ask for her number.” Loki rolled his eyes at his best-friend. “Honestly, the sexual tension here is insane.”

“Oh bogg off, Loki… maybe right before we leave, when she’s less busy. It looks a bit crowded here tonight, and I don’t imagine any of us are leaving here tonight until we’re all blackout drunk.”

“Yeah, lmao. First the workout and now this, I’m going to wake up tomorrow with a broken body **_and_** a broken brain.” Loki joked.

“Broken body, huh? Hope I have something to do with that.” Said a voice from behind Loki.

Loki and Verity both turned to face the speaker. Black hair, brown eyes, long face, chiselled chin, thick eyebrows, lean physique, maybe just a smidgen taller than Loki. OMG, it was Angrboda Thiazison.

“Uhhh…” Loki said, not sure how to react. What the fuck? Yes he’d joked about how the smug, arrogant footballer was indeed quite handsome, but never had he imagined that he’d ever meet him in real life. Nor had he imagined that he’d be even **_more_** handsome in person. “Uhm, I.”

“Angrboda Thiazison,” the man extended a hand out towards Loki.

“Uh, Loki Odinson.” He said.

“Oh. Odinson, like Thor? You two related?”

“Brothers.”

“Oh, that’s even better then.” Angrboda sat down next to him. “So, what’s a cute thing like you doing out here on a night like this?”

“Just out with some friends.” 

“Would those friends mind me borrowing you for the night?”

“Maybe?” Loki shrugged, his face unable to stop itself from smiling just the littlest bit.

Angrboda moved in closer. “It would be such a shame to miss out on having a beauty such as yourself.”

Loki chuckled. “Oh, flattery will get you everywhere, darling.”

Angrboda crowded Loki against the bar and smashed their lips together. 

“Hot.” The bartender whispered to Verity.

“Oh yes.” Verity agreed.

Angrboda’s hands slipped down, caressing Loki’s waist as he kissed the side of his face, mouth nibbling lower and across his neck, sending a chilly shiver down Loki’s spine.

Loki gasped and grabbed Angrboda’s hands, suddenly, and pushed him off. “Um, sorry. I don’t think, uh, I don’t think we should do this.”

“What, why not?”

“Um, I don’t think, uh… not, shouldn’t.” Loki mumbled, grabbing the four beers he had to carry and heading back to the table his friends were at. He was instantly greeted by wolf whistles. Verity slid in next to him.

“Not gonna happen.” He said, squashing their joy with his tone of voice. Verity did a ‘sssh’ sign to indicate that none of them should talk about it.

So instead they talked about the upcoming election, and dumb things they’d heard in class. Peter and Cassie bought the next round. Then David and Noh-Varr. Then Nathaniel and Kate. At around midnight they wound up getting up to go home.

.

Thor was supposed to go out on a date with Jarnsaxa. Apparently some of his family were in town.

Thor did not expect Jarnsaxa to be related to Byleistr Laufeyson _at all_ (Jarnsaxa was cousins with Loki… did Thor have an obligation to tell Loki that?). Shame that Thor had an innate hatred for Byleistr and vice-versa (Byleistr was well aware of Odin and Laufey’s feud).

And that was how they all wound up at the pub near UCL (apparently one of Jarnsaxa’s favourites, and a conveniently located at the end of the tour of London Jarnsaxa was giving the Jotnar).

He did not expect to see Loki there. Then again, Loki had been going out with his friends every Sunday for the past two weeks, so really it was Thor’s fault for never having had asked where exactly it was that they were going. He looked at Loki who gestured to his friends. Alright, alright, not as awkward as it needed to be then.

The big, sweaty Alpha jocks were all talking about football. Gryson teased Thor about being an Aesir fan which wound up becoming a running joke for the night. Then they dispersed throughout the bar, obviously to try and pick up girls. That gave Thor some alone time with Jarnsaxa.

“I’m so sorry for my cousin, Byleistr. He’s a nice guy, really. He’s just, uh, protective I guess. Plus, your fathers had beef and Byleistr’s stinkingly loyal to family.”

“Funny, I’ve seen him on TV a couple of times playing the Aesir, he doesn’t seem the loyal type.” Of course Thor wasn’t going to mention that he’d obsessively been following his enemy team, let alone that part of that obsession was fuelled by the fact that this was the son of the man who’d abandoned Loki.

“He’s a hidden softy. Plus he’s very competitive and has a penchant for speaking before he thinks.” Jarnsaxa’s eyes wandered. “Is that your brother Angrboda’s flirting with.”

“What?” Thor followed Jarnsaxa’s gaze. Had he not, had he been instead staring at his unofficial-official boyfriend, he might have noticed him clenching his fork extra hard, his knuckles whitening as Angrboda cornered Loki, said something, and then kissed him. But no, Thor was too focused on his own rage. Sometimes it sucked being an older brother, always feeling angry when someone came near your younger, Omega brother. You know, Thor really ought to put an end to it, it really was the responsible thing to do.

But then Loki pushed him away. Angrboda didn’t seem too happy with it, but Loki quickly went back to rejoin his friends, and Angrboda skulked off to go and join Byleistr. It seemed that the two were friends. Odd that Loki had pushed Angrboda away, Thor could have sworn Loki would have said yes given how many times he’d watched Loki firsthand drool over the man on TV.

Eventually the others made it back to the table. “It’s a real Beta Party in here tonight.” Gryson griped.

He was right, Thor supposed. Thor knew firsthand that of Loki’s friends: David was an Alpha; Peter, Cassie, Verity, Nathaniel and Kate were Betas; Noh-Varr was a **_mated_** Omega, and only Loki, in the group he was currently with, was an Omega. He hadn’t really smelled any Omegas coming in anyways.

Thor watched Loki leave. He watched Byleistr whisper something to Gryson and Angrboda, and follow. Sensing trouble, he himself got up. Jarnsaxa followed, and so did all the other Jotnar.

Outside it was Byleistr who grabbed Loki by the wrist. “Hey, you turned down my friend.”

“Uhm, yes.” Loki blinked at the giant man owlishly.

“Why? He’s **_way_** out of your league.” 

“Uh-”

“Unhand my brother.” Thor growled. Jarnsaxa grabbed Thor’s arm and said something that Thor heard but didn’t quite interpret.

“Or what, Odinson? You’re going to fight me?” Byleistr mocked. Roughly jerking his hand down to make Loki fall.

Enough was enough. Thor threw out the first punch just as Loki managed to barrel-roll out of what he instantly knew would become a war zone.

Byleistr threw a punch back at Thor. Angrboda joined in on the assault of Thor. David growled, he had always liked Thor, and decided he was going to step in. All too fast did it become a free for all. Loki dove in. Like fucking hell was he going to let his brother die at his expense.

An Alpha was strong, a male Alpha the strongest. But two to four Betas seemed to do the trick. For instance, it only took Loki and Peter to knock out Larson. Verity got Angrboda from behind with a roundhouse kick.

The main fight really was Thor against Byleistr. Those two wanted blood, that much was clear. They’d individually managed at least thirty punches on one another, Loki had no doubt in his mind that it was Alpha Testosterone alone that kept them going. He heard police sirens wailing in the distance. A bunch of the Jotnar got up and ran off. Cowards, the lot of them.

Not Byleistr though, and not Thor. 

“Oh God.” Loki rushed to his brother’s side. Both men lay on the floor. Were they alive? He shook Thor. “Thor, Thor, get up, come on, please?” He checked his brother’s pulse. It was there, that was good, right? Surely it had to be good. Thor’s face didn’t look too badly damaged after all.

“Everybody freeze, don’t move!” Some paramedics ran in and grabbed Thor and Byleistr and the rest was a bit of a blur, but they basically all wound up being taken to the hospital to get checked over. A nurse told him that the police were going to come over sometime the next morning to file a report.

“Please, please. I need to see my brother.” Loki begged his nurse. His phone rang. “Hello?”

“Is this Loki Odinson? You’re listed as one of Thor’s emergency contacts, he’s been injured and is in hospital.”

“Yes, I am. Yes I know, I was there, it’s all my fault. Can I please see him?”

“Yes. His room is 12B, you’ll need a pass.”

“Alright, thank you.”

The kind Omega nurse looked at him. “Well, I guess that’s your answer. Come along, dear, I’ll take you to get your pass.”

.

Thor didn’t wake up until Tuesday. Loki had, by then, given the police all the information that they needed, backed up by witness testimony from those who had called the police about the fight in the first place. The Jotnar were all in custody, it had made international news.

Jarnsaxa had tried several times to get access to see Thor, and had failed each time, Loki smirked internally, remembering the nurse’s words. “I’m sorry, Mr Thrymson, it’s friends and family only for now.”

Loki hadn’t left Thor’s side since he’d been granted permission to be up there with him. He’d been shortly joined by his mother and father, who had both rushed down from Birmingham as soon as they’d heard (they were also listed as Thor’s emergency contacts).

Frigga had tearfully embraced Loki as soon as she’d heard what had happened, and Odin had given Loki a consoling pat on the back as well as a hug and an ‘I’m glad you’re safe, son.’ 

Odin had voluntarily gone back to Loki and Thor’s apartment once he realised that Loki was most definitely not going home till Thor woke up, and had brought Loki his toothbrush, toothpaste, some clothes, and some food for him to eat. His mood had been a bit angrier than when he had left. When asked what was wrong, Odin had simply muttered ‘Laufey’. Loki supposed that it made sense that Byleistr’s family had come to see him given that he was undoubtedly in hospital as well.

“Loki?” Thor croaked out, as his vision swam into focus and he saw his brother hovering over him. “Loki? Where am I?”

“You’re in hospital, you big oaf. You’ve been stirring for the better part of half an hour.”

“I remember getting into a fight…”

“And the person you were fighting is here too. I don’t think he’s woken up though, you were always a bit of a super-healer, huh?” Loki traced his fingers up Thor’s chest and stopped what he was doing immediately once he realised just how inappropriate that was.

“Yeah, ‘m glad you’re okay. ’s Jarnsaxa here?” Thor asked. Loki’s heart sank.

“No, family only.” 

“Good.” Loki was **_wayyyyy_** too happy at that statement and said nothing out of fear it would betray his glee. “‘m hungry.”

“I can get you something from the cafeteria.”

“Yes please. Booze, get me lots of booze.”

Loki chuckled. “Brother, alcohol is what got you into this mess in the first place.”

Thor wrapped an arm around Loki in a poor attempt at a hug. It sent little butterflies fluttering all around in his chest. “No, little brother, I’m pretty that was you. Fine then, mash potatoes and lots of gravy, and some water please, I’m so **_thirsty_**.” Thor said exaggeratedly.

“Not too thirsty to be a clown.” Loki quipped, leaving the room before Thor could overexert himself by throwing a pillow his direction.

He made his way down to the cafeteria, noting the need to be quick should he wish to avoid any potential run-ins with the he-devil himself, and noticed a man in a business suit watching him. Loki turned to meet his gaze, but the man stopped looking immediately. Odd. Loki grabbed the food and a cup to fill with water and then made his way back to the elevator to floor 3 where the B ward was located.


	9. Enter: Leah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I'm revising for my exams, and I've done so much maths at this point that I just needed a break from it :P Here's a second update!

So here’s the thing: in the heat of the moment, Thor hadn’t really taken in Jarnsaxa’s words, right? The last words he said to him before he punched Byleistr, you know, those words. But floating in and out of consciousness, those words just kept replaying themselves in his head. 

‘ _Just leave him, he’s not worth it_.’ **_Bitch!?_**

So yeah, he got himself a bit worked up about that, and he was happy that Jarnsaxa wasn’t there. The longer he thought about, the bitterer he got. He was going to have to speak to the man about this, he knew as much.

Loki returned with the mash and chicken and gravy. Nice bonus there.

“Hey, Lokes, you seem spooked.” Thor frowned at his little brother. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m fine, see.” He flexed his fingers as proof. “It all works and everything.”

“What, oh no, sorry. I just caught a man staring at me in the cafeteria, I think it was Laufey.” Thor’s face fell and he paled. That was not good. “Do you think he’s going to want to retaliate against us for hurting his son?”

“I don’t know, Loki. Maybe it’s best to not go down there again.” Thor said. This was the fucking worst possible time for Loki to potentially find out who his real father was.

“Yeah. I felt so unsafe.” Loki shuddered and whipped out his phone. “Yeah, it’s him. Apparently Laufeyson’s brother also flew out here with their dad.” Crap. 

“Well we’re safe in here.”

“Yeah… you kind of look like crap, you know?”

“That’s a rude way to say thank you.” Thor said wryly.

“Just being honest, you know me, I love my honesty.”

“I have never met a bigger snake in my life.” Thor rolled his eyes affectionately. 

.

Odin and Frigga came as soon as they got Loki’s message. They’d been in the apartment, keeping it clean and, well, **_sleeping_** (they could rest easy knowing someone was watching Thor, and besides the nurses had told them it wasn’t severe way back on the first day).

“My son.” Frigga gave Thor a big hug. “Oh, you’ve become so purple since the last time I saw you!” She teased. Thor had, in fact, sustained a lot of bruises. Apparently they took time to colour in or something, because Loki could have sworn Thor was not as roughed up that first day.

“Very funny mother. You must be where Loki got all of his piss poor jokes from.”

“Be nice to your mother.” Odin warned. “Sons, Laufey’s lawyers have sent in a letter. They’re willing to drop the assault charge against Thor as long as Loki drops his possible charge against Byleistr.”

“Let them take it and tell them to get the fuck out of the country.” Loki grouched. Odin didn’t bother reprimanding him for language (he’d lost that battle a half a decade ago anyways).

“I agree with Loki. Let’s just put this whole mess behind us. What matters is that we are all safe.”

“Good thinking, my sons. I just need you both to sign this document.” Odin took out a stack of papers. “Do not worry, both I and Heimdall went through it carefully.” Odin may be a businessman, but he had studied Law at Oxford, as had Heimdall.

Loki and Thor both signed the offending pieces of paper. “Good.” Odin continued. “The nurses have said that Thor is all fine and ready to go. They’re just going to keep him under observation until night time and then we’re free to take him home.”

“Come Loki.” Frigga beckoned. “Let’s get you well-rested, you’ve already missed two days of lessons, I won’t have you crusty for tomorrow.”

“Bye Thor, bye Father!” Loki waved, following his mother. “Mother?”

“What?”

“Is Laufey… dangerous?”

_Well, he killed your birth mother_. “Very. Why?”

“He was staring at me in the cafeteria this morning. I somehow don’t think that this contract is going to be the end of things.”

“Oh dear, I worry that too.”

.

Loki did day two of the workout routine shortly after taking a nap. He scrubbed all the filth and grime from the hospital off of himself (probably should’ve started there) and put a face mask on and some lip scrub.

He had over a hundred text messages from his friends wanting to know what happened. He replied to Verity last, simply because he wanted to spend more time and thought on messages to her, and also because he was hoping she was online so they could chat. He really needed someone to chat to.

“You worked out, huh?” His mother asked, entering the room. “Gunning for a six pack, are we?”

“Ha, ha, mother. We both know I don’t have the self-discipline to give up donuts like that. I just thought that a bit of exercise would help me focus better at school.” He lied.

She smiled, clearly pleased by the answer. “I am so proud of you, you know that? When you didn’t get into Cambridge, you took it so gracefully, you didn’t ask us to get your Chemistry paper remarked, you said you were just happy going to UCL.”

“Yeah, and if I’d never come here I would have never met Verity.”

“And you would have spent less time with your brother.” Her eyes twinkled. He felt uncomfortable.

“Yes.” She seemed to sense his discomfort because she moved on.

“You know, this flat didn’t always look like this. In fact, when your grandfather bought it, it was maybe an eighth of its current size. Then he made some money and bought the surrounding apartments and renovated the whole thing.”

“Wow, an eighth? That’s so small!” That was maybe like 3/4 the size of the master bedroom. It suddenly occurred to him that they had the biggest apartment in the building, definitely bigger than any of the other ones on the floor.

“Yeah, things were a lot smaller back then.” Frigga chuckled. “When your father and I first moved into the house in Birmingham it wasn’t all that big either.”

“I remember, we had so many construction workers over when I was little.”

“Yeah, and you and Thor would always play in those pebbles that they had. You couldn’t have been older than two.”

“He threw one at me.”

“Thor always throws things at you.” Frigga winked. She’d had to put up with everything from pillows to beer cans being thrown between those two. Why couldn’t she have adopted a girl? Or, in fact, why couldn’t Thor have been born a girl?

“Yeah. He certainly does.”

.

“Father, you seem on edge, what happened?” Helblindi asked, taking a seat beside Laufey at Byleistr’s bedside. He’d just woken up.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. The team’s agreed to keep Byleistr on.”

“Of course, they’d be stupid not to. Byleistr’s the best player in the world. Nobody plays Alpha Soccer better than he does.”

“Indeed.” Laufey went quiet.

That man he’d seen in the cafeteria. The lean one with the black hair and the face that looked like his late wife’s. Could it have been the child he’d put in that orphanage all those years ago? Could it be that Odin had somehow gotten ahold of it? If he had, then what was his game? Surely Odin realised that by putting him in that orphanage, Laufey had disowned him, that Laufey had no obligation towards him. That there was no way that Odin could use the child to get to Laufey, surely.

He was getting ahead of himself. He was making the assumption that this child was Odin’s in the first place. Also, this child might not even be his. How would Odin have wrangled his child in particular from the orphanage Laufey had left him at. What was it called again… uh, Rainbow something? Probably.He took out his phone.

“Ernesto, I need a favour. I need you to look up Odin’s second child and tell me his entire background. Yeah, no, the one with the black hair. Thank you.”

.

Frigga made dinner and Loki set up the table so that when Thor and Odin came back home they were able to eat. Frigga had even ordered a cake from the bakery downstairs.

Loki sat opposite of Thor and next to Frigga, Odin was diagonally opposite to him. After dinner, Loki went to his room and took some more hormone before falling asleep.

.

The thing about knowing someone existed was that where once they were nowhere, now they were everywhere.

Loki had never noticed that Jarnsaxa was a fellow student at UCL. He never noticed that Jarnsaxa studied in the library, just like he did. Nor that they had a lot of classes in rooms that were close enough that they kept crossing paths. Loki stuck to Verity like a fly.

Their friends that were there that day were equally upset to see Jarnsaxa around, it seemed. David and Peter both flanked Loki as they walked to the library between periods. Cassie dragged him into conversations every time she saw a flash of blonde hair. They **_all_** wanted to know if Jarnsaxa and Thor were still dating.

And that was just it: Loki didn’t know. He speculated a heavy no was the response to that question, given how Thor had been grateful for Jarnsaxa not being at the hospital that day, but Jarnsaxa had a spring in his step post Thursday, so Loki had no clue what was going on. Nobody was **_happy_** after breaking up with Thor- he was **_Thor_** , dammit!

.

Thor had talked to Jarnsaxa during his lunch break on Thursday.

“Thor, I am _so_ sorry for what my cousin did to you.” Jarnsaxa apologised.

“That’s fine. What did you mean ‘leave him, he’s not worth it’?”

“My cousin, Thor. He’s aggressive, but he wouldn’t have done anything to your brother. He wasn’t worth starting a fight with. He’s never been the best at respecting boundaries, but Loki would have been fine.”

“Loki still has a bruise where your cousin nearly squeezed his wrist off.” Thor all but growled.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If you want, I could arrange for Byleistr to apologise to him.”

“No!” Thor said so quickly that it took Jarnsaxa by surprise. What…? “No, it’s all good, it’s all fine, he’s over it, we’re over it.”

“Thor… are we… are we alright?”

Well, Thor couldn’t really blame Jarnsaxa for something his cousin had done. And as long as Jarnsaxa hadn’t called _Loki_ worthless. Thor exhaled. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re alright.”

“Great.” Jarnsaxa smiled and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest.

.

Odin and Frigga had left by Friday. Odin still had a business to run. Loki missed them.

He was going to Imperial to catch up with a friend for some drinks, when a woman caught his eye. Black hair, tall, pale skin, burning green eyes, strong chin, gently curved nose. She wore a white top with a solid bodice and an intricate lace design on the otherwise clear sleeves, with black jeans.

She noticed him too.

_Leah_.

.

“Thor, you’ll never guess who I ran into today.” Four hours later and Loki was still dumbstruck. Just- **_how_**!? How had he run into her!? It had been six years!

“Who?”

Loki swallowed, forcing the name out of his mouth. “ _Leah_.”

“Leah… _Leah_ … Lee-uh.” Thor hummed. 

“Oh for the Norns’ sake, Thor! _Hela’s_ sister, dammit!”

That caught Thor’s attention. Thor did _not_ like Hela. At all. She was mean, a dictator, and quite the bully. From what he understood she had family problems, and in all honesty he hoped she had managed to turn her life around, but he didn’t intend to be a part of it. “What did she want?”

“Nothing, I just saw her, I didn’t say anything.”

“You seem on-edge.”

“Well yeah, I haven’t seen her in six years, Thor, not since I blocked her on Facebook.”

“Why’d you block her on Facebook?”

“We had… a complicated past, Thor. Oh, I don’t know what to do now, should I confront her? Should I just let it slide and hope I don’t see her again?”

“Let it slide, you don’t need this kind of drama in your life… what do you mean ‘complicated past’?”

“Stuff, Thor. Don’t worry about it.” Loki waved his hand to signal that he wanted to end the conversation. He walked around with his chin in his hand, pacing all around the living room. Thor watched him, helpless.

_What stuff?_


	10. They pass from man to man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, exams really are a great tool to motivate me to write, lmao 😂

Laufey sifted through the plethora of articles that Ernesto had sent him. 

_‘He was adopted May 4 1996, by Frigga Njordsdottir, from a small village in Iceland called Húsavík.’_ A six hour drive from where Laufey lived in Reykjavik. Possibly where he had dumped the boy. ‘ _Not much else about him that’s notable, boss. A few incidents with the police, a scene he caused at a club, and him almost running away from home… tabloids will write about anything, huh? But not really all that much on him, I’m afraid.’_

“Thanks, Ernesto.” Laufey sifted through the articles. There was one from his sixth form college where he was listed as a Cambridge offer holder for PBS, of course a fucking Omega-boy would want to study something as girly as PBS. What was Odin’s game then, sending him to UCL, keeping him near Thor? Was he trying to get them mated? Was that it, did he think that Laufey would have a change of heart if his son got knocked up by Odin’s boy or something? Was Odin high?

He closed the laptop. This boy was a problem. If it was discovered that he was Laufey’s son, it would only be a matter of time before questions emerged about Farbauti and how she _really_ died. He could always pin it on her killers, of course, Franco and Larson, since they were dead, but the problem came when one questioned their motives.

He had to think fast. What should he do? Should he order a hit on the boy? It would be so nice to consult Helblindi on this, but he wasn’t so sure that his eldest son would take kindly to learning of the murder of his mother.

A hit would be suspicious, he reasoned. And besides, if Odin suspected him for a second he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the old man ordered hits against Laufey’s entire family. First he needed clear evidence of Odin’s intentions. His skin itched. Surely he could wait until then, right?

.

So here was the thing about Leah: Loki and Leah _dated_. A really long time ago, that relationship ended when Loki was sixteen, but they dated. 

Loki met Leah when they were children, they didn’t really hang out all that much. Leah was always so ruff n’ tuff, but when they were both about fourteen Loki had begun to see a different side to her, a softer side that drew him in. It was nice to love someone other than his own brother, after all.

Leah and he were both Omegas. It had been legal to be in a same-second-gender relationship for over twenty years, but they still felt the lingering remnants of age-old condemnation hanging heavy around them, and so they decided to keep it a secret.

Leah was the one who had taught him about heat suppressants, like the type that she was on.

That was one of the fonder memories of their relationship, he remembered. There were other good times too, like sitting outside under an elm tree by the Tame, his head on her lap as she carded her fingers through his hair. It had been such a nice way to celebrate their form 3 end of year exams; or going rollerskating with her at the leisure centre, sharing a giant milkshake afterwards; the sex, which had always been good.

But unfortunately, as was the case for many young loves, the bad outweighed the good. She was a wild child, there was no denying that, and he, in denial of his feelings for Thor, was desperate for any form of affection he could get. They'd snuck into bars and clubs, and been arrested a good many times for it; Leah had once shoplifted a bra from a legally-unmentionable, well-known, bra-retailer; She’d gotten him onto cigarettes; There was that time she’d threatened to kill herself if he ever left her.

And, of course, the final crack in their relationship that just went and shattered the whole glass vase: when he’d caught her making out with a good-friend, a member of their trio, Daimon Hellstrom.

An Alpha. She’d left him for an Alpha.

In all honesty, he was happy for them, really. It sucked, it felt like his soul had been crushed down and then put into a food-processor for a good, long pulse, but it was alright. He understood, he liked Alphas too (namely Thor). And besides, the pair were both wild child, rebel kids. Never mind that he tried to run away with a man thrice his age that same week.

Which is, of course, why he couldn’t leave well-enough alone, and why he intentionally ran into her three days later at Imperial, after having had arranged to meet with his _good friend_ , Ashleigh Davis, when he _conveniently_ bumped into Leah again.

“Leah?” He asked, blinking owlishly as though he had not, indeed, planned this whole thing.

“L-Loki, hi.” She said, shyly. What was that there then, remorse? Intriguing. 

“Hey, it’s been… it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, totally. I, uh, I didn’t know you go here.”

“Oh, no. I go to UCL, I’m just here to visit a friend.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so, uh, so how are things… you know? You and Daimon still together?”

“Ah, no. He left me to go and become a priest or something.” She waved it off like she didn’t care, but deep down Loki knew that she _did_ care… actually, come to think of it, even back when they _were_ together, hadn’t she asked a couple of times about Daimon joining them in bed? “What about you, in a relationship with anyone?”

“No, not at the moment.”

“Oh, that’s nice. We should catch up sometime.”

“Uh, yeah, sure, what’s your number?”

They swapped numbers and Loki went on his merry way to meet up with Ashleigh. Now that that chapter was closed in his life, maybe he could finally find the closure he’d thought he already had over Leah.

.

So he caved and called her. They arranged to meet up by the Cafe on eighth street.

Again, he wasn’t going to take this anywhere, he just needed closure was all. But here’s the thing though: once you’ve had someone in your life, someone you know intimately, someone whose vulnerability attracts you, someone who you may never have quite gotten over, your _first love_ (well, that was debatable), someone you used to define relationships. Once you’ve had someone like that in your life, it’s hard to just completely squash out those feelings.

So when Leah apologised for their past, took full accountability, opened up to him about her childhood (which, bear in mind, he already knew had been shitty just based on the fact that he’d experienced part of it with her- her father had been one mean, alcoholic fuck. Her mother was emotionally absent. Her sister was Hela), opened up about having had taken a gap year after her father’s death in an attempt to find herself, and she’d shown him her vulnerable side yet again…

Well, they’d wound up making use of the fact that Thor wouldn’t be home for another three hours.

.

“You seem in an awfully good mood.” Thor commented when he came home to find Loki making dinner.

“Yeah, good day.” He’d _just_ managed to get his sheets into the washing machine, and had decided that cooking with lots of fun spices would be a good way to throw off the scent of _other_ in the apartment, Alphas had stupidly keen noses and Thor was no exception. He might not be able to smell hormones quite well (hormones were almost entirely scentless), but he _could_ smell a person, and Loki had no idea what Leah might smell like to an Alpha. “How was yours?”

“Alright. Hey, listen, I’m going out tomorrow night. I’ll probably be home by around nine or ten.”

“Super.”

.

Loki and Leah both dozed off after a nice, long, languid hour of fisting one another which had resulted in multiple orgasms for both parties.

They only woke up when Loki heard the sound of a door slamming shut. Oh fuck, that must be Thor, _Thor was home_ , he needed to sneak Leah out.

Loki got up and whispered. “You need to go.”

Leah put on some clothes… but then they heard the television turn on. _Fuck_! Loki put on his clothes too, he’d distract Thor… wait, that was a bad idea smelling like this. 

“We need to both shower.” He said, and she nodded. She took off her clothes and hopped into the shower with him. No hanky panky this time, not while they were both under pressure like this. They soaped up and rinsed themselves down… except that now Leah’s clothes would still smell. Loki tossed her his.

She glanced up at him when he threw her a pair of panties, but said nothing. _Yeah, she better not, she had been the one who got him into lingerie in the first place._ And put on the vest, top, and tights he threw at her.

Loki was the first one to leave the room. “Hey Thor, you’re back late.”

“Yeah, sorry, took a bit longer than I expected, we went on a walk to the Thames… why are you up? It’s one in the morning.”

“Oh, just working on a research paper. Shouldn’t you be going to bed now? You have work at 8:30, and you always get so cranky when you don’t get enough sleep.” Loki teased.

“Fine, fine, you’re right.” Thor said, yawning and stretching. 

“Are you… are you seriously too tired to go to bed?” Loki rolled his eyes at his brother.

“Yeah… carry me?”

“How, you’re the size of three mes?” 

“Alright, _fine_ , Loki! I like it better when _you’re_ tired, you’re less mouthy then.” Thor yawned and lumbered over to his room, continuing on a tirade that made little-to-no sense.

Leah quickly left Loki’s room and the apartment, Loki would return her clothes to her the next day. Loki ran to the apartment door to give her a kiss goodbye.

.

Loki was so frustrated. He’d been doing those workouts for a week now and had barely lost anything! He was getting better at them, sure, but what use was that if there was no visible improvement?

He googled fat to fit, and watched a couple of videos on that. Apparently you needed to weight-lift in addition to cardio if you wanted to lose anything serious, so he resolved to start doing that as soon as his current workout plan was over.

.

“You’ve been busy, been hooking up with someone?” Verity asked Loki quite cheekily at lunch.

“Yeah, an old flame, never thought I’d see her again.”

“Her? _Oooh_ , who is this mystery woman?”

“Her name is Leah, we dated back in high school. She used to be such a problem child, but she’s really turned her life around.”

“Oh.” It was clear that Verity had more she wanted to say than just that, but she refrained from doing so. Interesting. “I heard MJ’s going out with Flash.”

“Poor Peter, he must be crushed.”

“Yeah. I don’t think that that relationship will last though.”

“Of course not, MJ x Peter forever!” Loki declared, banging a fist over his chest and cracking Verity up.

Loki didn’t even notice that Jarnsaxa was watching him over from his table with Tabetha, Molly and Grayson. 

.

It had been a while since Thor had last seen his friends, what with work and both his and their romantic relationships.

He, Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg all sat at a round table at a Chinese joint on Fifth.

“So, how’s Gretel?” Sif asked after Volstagg’s daughter. Volstagg had gotten married fresh out of university and already had a child with his wife.

“She’s fine. She’s excited that she’ll be getting a new brother soon.”

“That’s sweet!” Sif cooed. Thor felt like asking Sif if _she_ was pregnant… nah, that would be rude.

“Thor, how’s that new arm candy of yours?” Fandral winked, earning a swift kick from Sif.

“Jarnsaxa is good, we’ve been dating almost a month now>”

“Ooh, your big monthaversary, I can see it already: fireworks, candles.” Fandral joked.

“Ha, ha, very funny. I’ll probably take him out or something.” Thor shrugged it off.

“How’s Loki doing? A little birdie told me that they saw him in a cafe with some girl.” Sif leaned in, keen to get some tea on whatever it was that was going on in the little rat’s life (she meant it affectionately).

“Probably Verity, Loki’s never really been into women.”

Sif traded a glance with Hogun and mouthed something. Hogun shook his head wildly and made a ‘shush’ sign at her. 

“What?” Thor found himself asking.

“Well, it’s just that, uh, you know, he did have that girlfriend back in high school didn’t he? Leah?” Volstagg said, finally.

“Leah was his girlfriend?”

“Well yeah, didn’t you know? Think they were together for like three years or something. Macy told me.” Macy was Volstagg’s little sister.

“Wow.” Thor blinked. “Uh, wow. I never knew he had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, don’t know much about that relationship… but anyways, yeah, maybe he’s dating this ‘Verity’ person you mentioned?”

“Oh no, those two are so platonic. It’s uncomfortable to watch sometimes.” Thor shook his head.

“Yup.” Sif popped the ‘p’, she’d been privy to enough of those moments between Verity and Loki to last a lifetime. Loki had literally bought pads for Verity and taken them to her and entered the bathroom she was in with them. That was beyond platonic, that was just creepy.

They talked about other stuff, then. They talked about how Fandral’s little brother had just graduated from high school and had gone on to join the navy, how Sif’s brother (Odin’s closest confidant), Heimdall, had been seeing someone and how Sif was desperate to know who but her brother wouldn’t crack.

All too soon it turned two in the morning, and Volstagg announced that the had to go home because he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his wife and daughter at home alone this late at night. Then went Sif, Fandral and Hogun given that they were a couple. And finally, Thor took a nice, long stroll home through Oxford Street and then eventually caught the tube to his place.

_Girlfriend, huh? Oh Loki, what did she do to you?_


	11. He's not a Keeper

Loki couldn’t deny that he was trying to keep his relationship with Leah a secret. Mostly from Thor.

Thor was a pryer. If he found out that Loki was maintaining contact with Leah, he’d have questions about it, and if he had questions about it Loki would only be able to lie to him for so long before he found out that Leah had dated before, and that she was involved in a lot of Frigga’s horror stories about Loki’s teenage years.

Oh no, Thor would probably tell their parents. Loki had taken Leah to his leavers’ dinner back in fifth form, they had a photo of them in an album back home.

Urgh, he was so paranoid. Thor never looked at those ratty albums, and what were the odds that either Frigga or Odin would spring one out at the next family visit?

Still, there were a few more close calls. Like when Loki was texting Leah on the couch while watching the Aesir game with Thor (Loki had all but thrown his phone across the room when Leah sent him a picture of her breasts- he knew full-well that a picture would definitely warrant at least a _glance_ from his brother); Thor walking in on Loki dumping their soiled sheets into the washing machine (uhm, I wet myself last night! Scary dream, I’ll talk to a doctor about it); Thor catching Loki sneaking in past midnight with lipstick all over his face and neck (I was out with Verity and David and we got a little wasted).

Unfortunately, it was a little bit harder to hide when Thor caught Leah leaving the apartment.

“Loki, who was that?” Like he needed to ask. The girl bore a more-than-striking resemblance to a certain she-devil he knew all too well.

“That? Oh, that’s just Leah.”

“I thought you said you had a bad history with her?”

“Yeah, but, uhm, she’s changed quite a bit, and we have a lot of mutual friends, so I’m just spending time with her, catching up and stuff.”

“Mutual friends, and yet you two were alone?" Thor deadpanned. “Loki…”

“Fine, Thor, I’m seeing someone. Are you satisfied?” Why would he be? An odd feeling stirred inside Thor. He blamed it on a combination of an inner feeling that Leah was bad news, and his Alpha hormones not wanting anyone else to mate what was effectively, in terms of secondary biology, his bitch.

“Are you sure you’re making the right decision… going in with someone you’ve had a bad past with?”

“She’s _changed,_ Thor.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t part of the picture when she changed. What if being with you is what sets her back on her old path?” Thor pointed out.

“Trust me at least, won’t you? I’ve seen her at her worst, I know when to pull out. I’ll be fine, Thor.” Loki’s tone took an authoritative, aggressive voice. It set the hairs on the back of Thor’s neck up, like they were about to fight. That was preposterous, Thor would _never_ hurt an Omega, let alone his younger Omega brother.

“Like you knew last time, huh?” Thor bit back, his voice a low growl.

“Last time?”

“I know you two dated before, I know it ended badly, I know she was responsible for a lot of the less savoury things in your life.” Thor was bluffing. He did _not_ know that, but he had managed to put two and two together.

_They dated for years. Loki had blocked her afterwards. What had happened through the middle of Loki’s teenage years? Loki had turned into a drugged-up little psycho, mom and dad had had to send him to rehab twice. Loki had tried to run away with a man twice-thrice his age. Loki had picked up smoking. Loki had been escorted out of clubs he was too young to be at. Loki had been arrested (not charged though, thank God). Therefore, logically, who had to have been around around the time that he was doing all of this? Leah_.

“Shut your mouth, Thor.”

“Make me.”

Loki jumped on top of him, sending him to the floor. Thor kicked out, as he tried to pin Loki down, but it was quite a chore given that Loki was shouting at him while pulling on his hair. Plus, Thor was still a little on the mend from that fight with Byleistr.

Thor switched tactics. He moved his arms down to grab Loki’s waist, and gave him a good, hard shove, which managed to put him on the floor. Loki was a lot stronger than he used to be. Thor then moved and sat on him.

That was it, that was the end of the fight. Both of them panting for breath while Thor sat on Loki’s chest.

“Gerrof me!” Loki mumbled.

“Do you promise not to attack _again_?” Thor rolled his eyes.

“Yes, fine, yes, yes. I can’t breathe.” Thor got off of him, and even offered him a hand up (which he refused to take).

“Loki, I’m sorry for angering you brother. I am just worried about your safety is all.”

“Alright. I will take it into consideration. But Thor, there was a part of my youth when I genuinely thought Leah was the one. It crushed me when broke up. Here, having her back, I’ve never been happier… please just leave it be.”

“Alright…” Thor said, warily.

.

Every time Thor cleaned Loki’s room on a Saturday, he just spontaneously felt like going to the gym. Dammit, Loki could deal with his own dust bunnies. Loki was Thor’s Omega, not the other way around, Thor didn’t need to clean his messes.

.

Loki frowned at himself in the mirror. Abs? He didn’t _want_ abs. Did he want abs? Wait, yeah, no he didn’t.

He’d wanted to get healthier, not stronger necessarily. Urgh, abs were _so_ unattractive on an Omega! Jane and Jarnsaxa didn’t have them! They were both naturally skinny types.

Was it the meat he ate? Maybe he ought to go vegan? Nothing extreme, he’d just cut out _most_ of the protein, he could still leave in things like beans so his body would have enough protein to function. You got more radiant skin from going vegan, he’d heard. And it also helped you lose weight.

And that was what he decided to do with his Saturday: go vegan food shopping. He picked up all sorts of stuff: vegan bacon, vegan sausages, vegan milk, vegan cheese, vegan cake, vegan burger patties (‘tastes like chicken!’ The box said. Verdandi, he hoped so).

He shoved them into the fridge and went into his room to finish his calculus homework. 

He heard the main door open and Thor come in, he heard Thor head for the fridge. “ _Looookiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!”_ There was knocking on his own door now. Loki went to open it. “Brother,” Thor said, dismay plain across his face. “Brother, what is this?” He waved the pack of vegan sausages around in Loki’s face.

“Food.”

“ _Vegan_ food, Loki, we are not herbivores!”

“I’m trying something new, isn’t your stuff still in the fridge.”

“Yes, _our_ stuff is still in the fridge, along with all of this junk that you’ve brought home!” Thor looked like he was about to throw a tantrum. “Brother, please tell me you’re not thinking of, you know… _that_.”

“I’m just trying something out.”

“Is it that Leah you’re seeing?”

Loki slammed the door shut in Thor’s face. Honestly, he did _not_ have time for this.

.

“So Thor texted me frantic last night, apparently you’ve gone vegan.” Verity quirked a brow at him on Monday afternoon. Honestly, Loki was mildly impressed that his brother had managed to last an entire day without exploding to Verity via text message that his brother had been ‘corrupted’ or some shit.

“I’ve been trying to lose weight, and I gained abs. I don’t _want_ abs, so I figured that cutting protein from my diet might be good for a little while- don't worry, I still eat beans, it's not a total cut.” 

“Oh, well, that’s alright, I suppose. Why didn’t you just tell Thor?”

“Because then he’ll immediately assume that the reason I’m trying to lose weight is for Leah, and he already doesn’t like her, whereas I told _you_ when I’d started exercising- that day at the bar.”

“Oh, right.” Hangover Mondays hadn’t been all that active since that night… they really ought to revive it, Loki felt like getting wasted. “So, how are things going with Leah?”

“Good. Did Thor ask you that one as well?” He teased, knowing full-well that she would have disclosed it if Thor had asked.

“Nah, just curious. You said she used to be a problem child, and I’m all for a good redemption arc.” She winked, grabbing her backpack and getting up. “Well, gotta go, Spanish in five minutes.”

“Bonne chance!”

“ _That’s French!_ ” She chortled, leaving a pouting Loki behind her.

Once more the pair was oblivious to the sight of crystal blue eyes watching them.

.

UCL was playing Imperial in a football game: and that was how Loki wound up introducing Leah to Verity. 

“Hi, you must be Verity.” Leah smiled that beautiful smile of hers.

‘Hot’ Verity mouthed at Loki, while shaking Leah’s extended hand. “Nice to finally meet the girl Loki’s been mooning about.” Verity winked as Loki swatted at her.

David, Peter and Noh-Varr all played football, but were in different teams for obvious reasons. David was in the Alpha team, because he was an Alpha. Peter was in the Beta team. Noh-Varr was in the Omega team.

Four and a half hours. That was how many hours of football they had to sit through to qualify as supportive friends. Why couldn’t these matches be concurrent? Why not simply rent three stadiums within a close proximity of one another so that well-meaning friends like Loki, Verity, and Leah could dutifully support their friends while also having _some_ time to themselves on a Saturday, huh?

David scored and Verity and Loki both jumped up cheering like animals. Leah, of course, did not join them as a goal for UCL was a point down for Imperial.

UCL won, of course, they hurried to the next game, saving a seat for David in the stadium. When he joined them, they both patted him on the back in congratulations.

“Good job, bro, you practically carried the entire team!” Verity gave him a thumbs up.

“Thanks, who is this?” He pointed to Leah.

Before Loki had the chance to get words out, Verity pointed from Loki to Leah and made that penis entering a ring gesture with her hands. David, Leah and her all burst out laughing.

“Oh, very mature!” Loki flushed, his cheeks a fierce red. “Anyways, we have a ‘GO PETER!’ banner here somewhere…”

“Look at Flash’s friends waving the ‘PARK IT PARKER!’ flag, honestly, they try so hard to antagonise him.” David rolled his eyes. “… you don’t think, uh…”

“What?”

“You don’t think Flash has a _crush_ on him, do you?”

“What?… No… Maybe?” Loki scratched his head.

“Yeah, no, you’re probably right… it seems a bit much. Besides, Flash looks really happy with MJ.”

“It won’t last, those two aren’t good for each other… Flash is an Alpha, though, Peter wouldn’t be able to take a knot, right?”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.” Leah stuffed a straw into her milkshake.

“And I mean, Peter’s always wanted children.” Loki continued. “They wouldn’t be able to have children, they’re biologically incompatible.”

“Not unless they adopted, or what if they're polyamorous with Mary Jane? We’ve long said that Mary Jane wouldn't be able to put up with Flash's pig-headedness and arrogance long-term... but what if Peter was there to mellow it down?"

“Guys… this is getting creepy.” Loki shook his head. "Let's just watch the game, okay?”

Verity and David completely ignored him and continued to discuss the state of Peter's love life.

Loki gave up and put his arm around Leah who snuggled in close to him. UCL won again. They were on fire this year, it seemed. They’d won their match against King’s as well.

And finally, the last game before the after party, with Peter in tow, they went to go and watch the Omega game. Loki’s jaw dropped. Jarnsaxa was on the pitch. What the fuck!? Loki hadn’t known that the blonde menace played soccer!

Loki looked down, heart thudding. There, sitting with Jarnsaxa’s friends, was Thor, cheering proud and hard for his boyfriend.

Disappointingly, it seemed that Jarnsaxa was rather good at football (of course, wasn’t he good at everything, dammit?). Jarnsaxa was goal keeper, unsurprising given his height. He managed to stop every single ball shot in the first half, including the one he swung up to kick out. Showoff.

This shouldn’t have surprised Loki, him being on the team and all. Wasn't he related to those thugs, Thor had mentioned? Jarnasaxa and Byleistr were cousins or something.

Loki, Verity, Peter and David all went wild every time Noh-Varr got the ball, whenever he scored they went absolutely ballistic.

Half time hit soon enough, after which the players were back on the field. The score was tied. They had 45 minutes to decide who was going to win this game (though UCL had clearly already won overall).

The minutes went by with **_nobody_** on either side managing to get a ball in. Soon enough there was a minute left of the game. Anderson (one of Leah's friends) was running up pitch with a ball, he raced towards the left and shot a long, hard, fast ball straight at Jarnsaxa.

Jarnsaxa not only missed the ball, but he tripped while missing it. Loki didn't manage to stop himself on time, but he jumped up and cheered. Thankfully, in the midst of the giant crowd he was in, he was certain that nobody aside from his friends had heard him. But then he glanced back at the scene and once more caught Jarnsaxa staring straight back up at him. He felt his forehead sweat and his heart begin to race.

“And Imperial has done it! Congratulations Imperial Omega Football Association, you are the winners!”

Mad cheering from the Imperial side, which of course included Leah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, my little nuggets, Leah looks enough like Loki that Loki could lie to Thor and say SHE cheered (assuming Jarnsaxa mentions it to Thor at all). I call it 'the family resemblance' ;) [For those of you who don't know, Leah's a comic character who (spoiler alert) is, essentially, Hela's hand (well, born of Hela's hand, I suppose) after it gets chopped off. That's why her name is an anagram for Hela<\---- her origin is obviously not true in this story].


	12. Overdue

The afterparty was _lit_ , and included people from both universities.

It was held on the first football pitch that they’d used for the Alpha game. The committee had had enough time to refurbish it so that the field looked like an area worthy of a party.

Loki had no idea how they’d managed this, because surely there were laws on how loud you could play music outdoors, and how drunk you could be in what was _arguably_ public, but apparently they’d gotten some sort of special permission for it (Cassie had told him this).

There was a kisscam that was being used to broadcast embarrassing moments, such as: arguments, kissing, failed attempts at flirting, and people leaving porta-potties together. Once more, Loki didn’t know how this was legal. He didn’t recognise the commentator, must be someone from Imperial (or maybe a DJ they’d hired).

Leah took Loki to meet her friends.

There was a girl with red hair (though her roots were dark) and steel grey eyes. She wore boots that were very high-heeled (though flat, so she could walk on the grass). “Loki, I’d like you to meet Oubliette.”

“Hi!” They both greeted, shaking hands.

“And this is Annie." She gestured to an Asian girl with a bob cut. The front part of her bob cut was pink. _Nice_!

“Hi!” They both greeted, shaking hands.

The night went on. Loki couldn’t see Thor, so he just assumed that his brother had gone home with that he-devil Jarnsaxa. ‘He-devil’? Wait, wasn’t that just a devil then?… Nah, he was keeping it.

Leah and Loki both wound up heading to the pop-up bar, which he assumed they’d managed to license, to get some drinks.

“What’s this?” Loki gestured to the item on the menu that said it was a blend of Amarula, vodka, dark chocolate sauce, and a cherry on top.

“Cum on my face.” The bartender flashed Loki a seedy smile, winking at him.

“I’d pay to see that.” Leah wolf-whistled.

"Is it good?”

“I’d rather an ‘Eat me out’, personally. That’s the one with scotch and brandy and a nice caramel sauce dripped over it.”

“I’ll take one. Leah, what would you like?” Loki fished for his wallet.

“One sex on the football pitch, please.” All of these names came customised, Loki could tell. These customisations were terrible.

“Coming right up! That’s £10!” Loki grabbed a tenner and handed it over to him. He took it and went to go and fix the drinks.

Leah sniffed. “He’s an Alpha… better watch how he prepares those drinks.” She murmured to him, low.

Good eye. “You’re right.” He murmured back. Alpha bartenders sometimes fixed drinks to drug unsuspecting Omegas and forcibly mate with them, though Loki knew that neither he nor Leah smelled very much like Omegas, given that they both took suppressants. 

Thankfully, the bartender did nothing that they could see to the drinks. He handed them back with a smile and they thanked him and took their drinks.

They couldn’t find a single one of their friends, which Loki was quietly grateful for. He hadn’t really spent all that much time with Leah aside from booty calls since they’d started, well, this. It was nice being alone for a change.

They were, admittedly, a bit tired from the day, so they both laid down not the grass and stared up at the stars, holding hands. “What _are_ you studying, anyways?” He asked her.

“Physics.”

“Oh, really? Thor took that degree, but only so he could become an actuary.” Leah went quiet. “Seriously, is that the only reason people in this country study physics?”

“Well, I mean, you know, uh… _science teachers_ , and, uhm, future college professors?”

“IT professionals?”

“See! It has its uses, but you know, most people really only study subjects like physics and maths for the transferable skills they provide. What about you, what do you study?”

“Neuroscience.”

“You wanna work with AI?”

“…”

“See!”

“Hey, I have an actual interest in the brain!”

“And _I_ have an actual interest in Quantum Theory, Lokes.” She teased, kissing his head. She lifted up the arm of his shirt. “You sure do have a lot of jabs in there. Why are you taking so much Alpha hormone?”

“I’m scared.” Loki admitted. “I, uh, I had a heat a while ago… I never want to have one again. I’ve been thinking of having my gland removed.”

“ _WHAT!?_ ” She gasped.

“Well, yeah…” he shrugged. “I dunno.”

“But there’s so much else attached to your gland. You won’t be able to get slick, you might lose your ability to feel any pleasure from being taken vaginally, especially as a male Omega.”

“I know, I know… it’s just all this booze talking.” No sense in discussing this with her, he supposed. If he told her that Thor had mated him during his last heat, that he was now terrified for his life, it probably wasn’t _sympathy_ he’d be getting…

“And if you couldn’t feel pleasure being taken vaginally, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy this.” Leah dragged his face down to kiss her as she trailed a hand down into his pants and thumbed the base of his cock, that little wedge between his balls, as she let the rest of her hand slide in. Both were oblivious, in the fairly dim light of the square they were in, that they were on the cam.

“Maybe we should take this to your place?” Loki suggested.

“Sure. I think my roommate’s probably out with her boyfriend.” Hela shared a room with a girl called Samantha. “I can peg you nice and hard if you want.”

“Please.”

.

Loki’d been back with Thor for about three months, so really it was about high time that Thor went into his rut.

Thor had instructed Loki to use tranquilliser darts on him if necessary.

Beta Stimulators or not, Loki’s Omega responded to Thor’s nearby arousal by making _him_ a leaky little pipe of his own. Loki spent the entire week rubbing himself raw, he might as well have been on heat himself.

This was right around the time that The Grandmaster sent his monthly update check-in with Loki.

**“Hi, sweetheart! How’s it going with you and your brother?”**

_“Alright, he’s in rut.”_

**“Oooh! That’s perfect. Why don’t you just go in there and _ride him_?”**

_“He’d never forgive me.”_

**“Fair point. You’ll have to seduce him, I suppose.”**

_“I’m dating someone else.”_

**“Oooh? To make him jealous?”**

_“No, an old flame.”_

**“Aww, what a shame.**

**I was really rooting for you and Thor.”**

_“Yeah.”_

**“Send me a picture of yourself.”** That was another thing the Grandmaster liked to ask of Loki. **“Put on that cute outfit I sent you in the mail.”**

Loki complied. He didn’t mind the fact that the Grandmaster was _probably_ fapping away at the photos Loki sent him, he just wanted the Alpha Hormones (which the Grandmaster had stopped charging him for anyways). Plus, the outfits were worth more than his yearly allowance, so he didn’t complain when he got to use them with Leah.

He put on the panties and pulled up the tights. He strapped on the black high heels and threw the bra on on top. He put some mascara and lipstick on, stood in front of his mirror, and snapped some rather risqué photos (how did it get more risqué than being near naked?).

The old man was a creep, but Loki had confidence that he wasn’t uploading these to some weird porn website. Maybe sharing them with a few of his billionaire buddies, but not uploading them.

He then took them off. They were by some big name fashion designed he couldn’t be assed to know, Paris Moreau… that was either a person’s name or a word, he had no fucking clue. 

Just for curiosity’s sake, he googled the line. Yup, £1500 on this ensemble. Not to mention the two others he’d already received, one of which came with a perfume called ‘La Sèduction’ which apparently cost £250 a bottle. 

He put on his normal, peasant clothes, and continued to jerk off to the sound of Thor jerking off. He could hear his brother in the next room. ‘Oh, yes, oh fuck yes. Oh, so tight you little _bitch_!’ No, Jarnsaxa was not over, Thor was simply abusing a watermelon he’d managed to fuck a hole into.

.

It was bound to happen eventually.

Loki and Leah came home from a late night movie and started to make out on Loki’s bed. They heard a pair of voices from the main apartment, followed by a door slamming shut. Thor and Jarnsaxa must be home. Pretty soon they heard the door to Thor’s room slamming shut as well, followed by moaning.

Loki made gagging noises to mask his discomfort and inexplicable sadness and pining. Leah just smirked, pushed him down, and buried her face between his thighs. Loki bit down on his wrist to stop himself moaning just in time, but Leah reached up and wrenched his arm away from his face.

“If they can make a sound, you can too.” She winked. “They aren’t killing our night.”

Still, it was hella awkward to make noises knowing Thor was nearby, so he did his best to keep quiet, biting down on his lips to keep sounds from spilling out.

It was all for nought, however, when Leah replaced her mouth with her fist, leaning up instead to take Loki’s dick in her mouth. She dug her fingers into the tissue within his cunt and under his cock. His g-spot. Loki let out a yelp as a steady stream of slick. She kept digging into him there, until he finally squirted out a stream of liquid into the air.

“Good bitch.” She growled, kissing up and down his neck. The same instincts that had applied to Angrboda didn’t apply to her, because she was an Omega. “Now lick it up while mama gets her strap on.”

“Mmm, yes mama.” He purred, getting onto the sheets and sucking at them like he would do someone’s dick through their underwear. Leah came back with a double-dildoed harness for herself. She had chosen the Razer for his arse (that was a stubby, brown, curved thing that always managed to hit his prostate) and the Ravager for his cunt (that was a green and purple **_thick_** one, that was more square shaped than it was round. It had bumps and knobs and was made of a blend of rubber and silicone so it was safe but felt _somewhat_ real (as real as a green and purple square-shaped penis could be). Not to mention that it was a good eight and a half inches long (though it tapered off near the tip, so as not to hurt his cervical area)).

Leah lubed up her right hand to open up his arsehole for the Razer, while she fisted him with her right hand. It took a while, but eventually he was ready. She pushed the Razer in first, as she knew it would be the hardest to get in. Then she used both her hands to open his funny up for the six-inch girth of the Ravager.

She pushed in and he felt the air in his lungs leave him. Wow he felt full. He knew from past experience that if this didn’t feel good after two minutes, he could just say ‘not good’ and she’d stop.

He held on to the headboard tight as she took him from behind. She started with a slow, gentle pace, one of her hands holding his hips in place, while the other stroked his cock.

Then it got _faster_.

Leah started postponing her hips, like these were really her cocks, and she really wanted to fuck Loki (unless he was mistaken, her harness vibrated and had space for a dildo for her to use as well). She grabbed onto his back with both hands and shover in deep and brutal into him, slow and controled. _Nngh, it was so good_! He already knew that anyone within a five mile radius would know what a slut he was from the sounds he was making alone.

She then went back and picked up the pace. She pushed Loki down and started to take him reverse missionary style. His knees were jelly. After a bit more fucking like that, she flipped around and pulled him onto her lap. She sat with her legs bent and apart and forced his feet on top of her knees. She pushed in once more, and had Loki bounce himself on her lap.

“Come on, slut.” She prompted, giving his ass a slap. “Bounce for mama.” She rubbed his cock and cunt as he bounced himself languidly on her cocks for a good five minutes, grinding down and trying to get the one in his cunt to rub against his G-spot again.

“Mmm, yes. Fuck me, mama.”

“Gladly, slut.” She hooked her hands on his waist and had him put his feet back up on her knees. She held him in place before just jerking wildly into him, like she had just been electrocuted or something.

“I’m gonna cum, mama, I’m gonna cum.”

“Good boy, paint the sheets white.” She kissed his neck, thrusting into him harder and faster. “Come on, baby, say my name.” 

“Leah!” His cunt clenched around Leah’s fake cock while his arse clenched around the other one and he spurted white semen onto the sheets.

“Mmmm, good boy.” On wobbly knees, Loki got up and took off her harness, throwing it into the side (yup, she’d had one in her too). He crawled back onto the bed and started licking her clean. He licked all of her excess juices first, licking around her outer lips. He could see her toes curling, a good sign. He took her clit and sucked on it, a hand reaching between his legs as he stroked himself slowly back up to hardness. He kissed and nibbled at her folds, using his tongue to fuck her. “Mmm, so good, oh Loki!” She gasped, a silent orgasm hitting her then and there.

But he didn’t stop, no. Slowly but surely, he was managing to get hard again. He leaned up and kissed her dusky nipples while he fingered her cunt. He kissed all over her chest and sucked hickeys into her next as she panted in his ear.

Then, he went back down and gave her cunt a kiss again, before kneeling up, and pressing his cock in.

He fucked her into the mattress, rubbing his hand over her clit until she came.

It wasn’t like the sounds of Thor fucking Jarnsaxa just as hard in the other room fuelled him on at all.

. 

Jarnsaxa had not anticipated the little twerp would be home. Never bother, Thor had already started fucking him by the time they heard the two ‘love birds’ over in the next room. What an exhibitionist that Loki was.

“Oh, this is awkward.” Thor cursed.

“Only if you want it to be.” Jarnsaxa winked, kneeling over Thor, and guiding him back in.

“Wait, you can’t be serious!”

“Deadly.” He winked. “Why let them have all the fun?”

“You are amazing.” Thor breathed in awe.

“Don’t you know it!” He winked.

It’s not like Loki screaming ‘ _Leah_!’ In the next room made him cum or anything, because that would have been just plain weird for any brother to do ever. Never mind that Loki was _technically_ Thor’s bitch.

.

The next morning was awkward as _Hell_ given that neither party’s SO had left.

Loki was showing off to Leah his pancake-making prowess, she was clapping as he flipped one behind his back (getting his hand slightly burned in the process) when Jarnsaxa walked in, followed by Thor.

Everything went quiet.

“Uhhh, you can have what’s left.” Loki said, voice low, to his brother as he did his best not to look at his sworn enemy.

“Thanks.”

At the breakfast table, however, Jarnsaxa had already sat himself opposite to Leah.

“So, where’d you go to school?” He asked her.

“I go to Imperial. What about you?”

“UCL.”

“Oh, just like Loki.” She smiled.

“Yeah. So, that was quite some night you and Loki had last night.” Loki was mortified.

“As was that night you and Thor had.”

“Well, we did have a lot of fun… hey, I’m dating one brother and you’re dating the other, we should go on a double-date sometime.” Loki wanted to vomit. _What the fuck_!?

“That totally sounds fun!” Leah beamed. Loki glanced to Thor for help, but his oaf of a big brother was avoiding his gaze.

“L’été, Sunday night?”

“Oh, uhm, actually I can’t.” Loki blurted. “Uh, I have a prior engagement.” Getting wasted enough with Verity and David and Peter and ‘em to talk about this fucking nightmare.

“Next Saturday then?” Jarnsaxa turned his attention back to Leah.

“Sounds perfect.”


	13. All of your flaws and all of my flaws when they have been exhumed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, lookie! Two chapters in one day, guess I really don't have a life, lmao! 😅
> 
> As a side note, I don't think I'll post again till at least Thursday, because I think writing this much makes me less productive while studying, and whenever I START writing a chapter for this story, I feel compelled to finish it (and I refuse for this story to have any chapters under 2k words, so that's quite a push)
> 
> Thanks for putting up with me, rest of chapter below!

“Wow, you’ve really knocked back a few, eh?” Verity teased. Loki had had like five more drinks after everyone else had decided to finish.

“Mmm… yeah… mmmm…” he mumbled. “hddd the-the…” Loki fell asleep, snoring.

“Awww, he’s so cute when he’s asleep. So undestructive.” David teased. “I can help you take him back.”

“Thanks, Prodigy.”

.

Thor grumbled, scratching his head. Who was ringing the apartment bell at this time at night? It was 2 AM!

Groaning, he got up to answer it, leaving behind his warm, comfy sheets for the cold, cold, _cold_ December air in the apartment.

“Hi, Mr. Thor! We’ve just brought Loki back.” Verity said as soon as he opened the door. Oh, it was Verity and David with Loki.

Thor took one look at his little brother sleeping on David’s shoulder with Verity holding onto him for support. His heart melted a bit. “Thank you both so much, you two are such good friends. Do you want something? You could spend the night?”

“Thank you, sir, but we’re just gonna head out. Have a nice night!”

“You too! Both of you, seriously, thanks! Loki owes you both a round!” He dragged his brother inside, locked the door, and hoisted him up bridal style. Loki was so adorable when he slept. He put his brother down into his bed, took off Loki’s shoes and his belt, removed his phone and wallet and keys from his pocket. Wow, Loki was really out. Poor kid, never could handle his liquor. Yeah, Thor _had_ noticed the liqueur that Loki kept in the cabinet. His little baby.

He bent down and gave Loki a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

.

Loki woke up with spittle all over his pillow and his hair all mussed up. His head. He couldn’t feel his head! He must have left it at the pub! Oh no!

“ _Thor_!” He wailed, a ringing in his ears.

His door opened. “Yes, brother?”

“Thor!!! I forgot my head!” Loki burst into tears.

Thor disappeared for a moment and returned with something in his hands. His phone.

“Don’t worry, Loki, I’ll call the pub. What was it you forgot?” Thor kept his hand over his mouth to stifle his wheezy laughter.

“My head, Thor, my head! Quickly! I need it!” Loki sobbed. He realised that Thor was laughing at him. “Oh, you know what? Fuck you, Thor! You’re always so mean, you never take me seriously!” Loki got up, all wobbly from the bed, Thor put his phone away, ready to catch him if his brother should need him. Loki took a swing at him, but Thor **_very_** easily caught both of his wrists, unable to stop his laughter as Loki kept trying to walk forwards with him. He gave a kiss to each knuckle before hoisting Loki up by his side, and placing him down on the kitchen counter chair.

“You, little brother, are hungover. You need food in your little belly. Now, I’m going to make you some bacon… oh, right, you’re vegan now.” Thor tsked. “Very well, let’s try out your undoubtedly crappy vegan bacon.”

Thor was right. It was crap. So crap. OMG it was crap. Loki bit into the flavourless, textureless ‘meat’ while making a face.

“I can make you some _real_ bacon.”

Loki shook his head vehemently. “This is fine. Can I have some water, please?”

“Sure, sweetheart.” Thor gave Loki some water and an aspirin tablet. “Take this now, so you can go to class in the afternoon. Go back to bed, Lo… ki…” Loki was once more asleep.

He really ought to get paid for this whole ‘look after your brother’ thing he had going on with his parents.

.

Thor, the bastard, had put that little clip of him panicking over his lost head up on the family group chat.

Verity smirked when she saw Loki next. “Did you find it?”

“What?” Loki frowned.

“Why, your head of course.” Loki’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“He sent it to you too!? What the fuck!?”

“It was as a ‘thank you’ for getting you home in one piece, he sent one to David too.” _Where the fuck did Thor get all of his friends’ phone numbers from!?_

.

Saturday night came around sooner than expected.

Here was the thing about Leah: Thor hated her guts, but even he had to admit that she was rather attractive. She had a nice amount of cleavage, that she clearly knew how to work given the underboob on the dress she was wearing. She had a figure to kill, and that long, dark, curly hair was hot. If Thor were single, he might consider dating her on her looks alone, even knowing who she was and what she had put his brother through.

Loki looked quite well-cut too. Dressed up in tux sans the jacket (admittedly good-looking on him), his hair cut into a short, boyish style with bangs. They made quite a pair, very easy on the eyes Leah and Loki.

Thor on the other hand had worn a black suit, and Jarnsaxa and sky blue one to make his eyes pop.

L’été was a fancy restaurant that was… not cheap, to put it lightly. The going rate was about £60 for a couple, but there was a special group option where you paid £40 each and the chef would pick two starters, a main, and a dessert from whatever ingredients were on hand, a mystery option if you would. They all wound up opting for that.

“So, Leah, Loki told me you’re Hela’s sister, what’s she doing now?” Thor asked, amicably. They were sat diagonally from one another, with Loki sitting next to Thor and opposite from Leah, and Jarnsaxa sitting next to Leah and opposite from Thor.

“She’s in jail.” Not his intention to start the evening off on such a sour note, though he couldn’t deny that it brought him a _bit_ of pleasure to know that his arch-nemesis from high school was exactly where he’d predicted she be by this point in her life.

“Oh, uhm, I’m sorry to hear about that… uhm…” Thor blushed. Loki looked close to face-palming, but wound up going with the more discrete eye-roll instead.

“Leah’s a physics major, Thor, just like you. She’s gonna be an actuary too.” Loki supplied, trying to be helpful as ever.

“Oh, that’s cool! What are you going to specialise your degree in?”

“I’m thinking Quantum Physics.” She smiled.

“Oh, that’s cool. I did Astrophysics.”

“Oh, was it Professor Hawking who inspired you? Loki told me that you went to Cambridge.”

“Oh no, he didn’t teach undergraduates.” Thor shook his head sadly. “It really is a shame what happened, so inspirational that man.”

“Yes he was.” Leah agreed.

Of course all it would take for them to stop hating each other was a mutual love of physics. **_Nerds_**!

Loki eyed Jarnsaxa up and down. He wondered what it would take them to stop hating each other… nothing. They both wanted the other out of Thor’s life, in Leah and Thor’s case it was brotherly protectiveness on Thor’s side and, well, nothing on Leah’s side. She didn’t hate Thor, not really. She was just a bit shy around him. It’s not like she _knew_ , right?

_How could she not? She’d been there all those years, he was so obvious._

The starters came, but a pit had formed itself in his stomach. What if Leah had known all of this time that he’d been a sick fuck who was in love with his own brother?

“Loki, are you alright?” She leaned in close to whisper.

“Wha-yeah, yeah, no I’m fine.” He tiredly grabbed at the serving spoon and dished himself two spring rolls. Time to force a bunch of food down his mouth.

“Oh, wait- I sorry, is this vegan?” Both Leah and Thor inexplicably managed to construct the same string of words at the same time aimed at their waiter. And yet somehow it was Loki who was left blushing.

“Uh, yeah. It’s vegan, just carrots and beans and corn and nuts.” She nodded.

“Thank you.” They both said. Wow, so in-sync. 

“So, Jarnsaxa, where did you and Thor meet?” Leah asked.

“Morgan and Smiths, we both work there.” He gestured to himself and Thor. Funny, Loki didn’t realise that intern rhymed with work.

“That’s adorable! Workplace romance, they say most couples meet at the workplace.”

“Yeah, well, fortunate I wound up with Thor and not Lawrence from Accounting.” Thor and Jarnsaxa chuckled like it was some inside joke. It very much was not, Loki had met Lawrence from Accounting on several occasions while stopping by to give Thor lunch. “How about you and Loki?”

“Loki was visiting a friend and we bumped into each other.”

“Just like that?”

“Well, we _did_ date before, but that was a long time ago.” She turned to look at Loki. “I’d missed him ever since… when I saw him again, and then again after that, I’d kind of assumed it was fate.” She pecked his cheek. D’aww. “So, how long have you two dated?”

“About three months, what about you guys?”

“Recently? 6 weeks, roughly. In total? About 3 years and 6 weeks.” She smiled, curling an arm around Loki’s shoulders.

“Wow… that’s, uh, long.” Jarnsaxa blinked, digging into his Calamari. Calamari was definitely _not_ vegan, Loki knew. Not that he wanted _more_ food, if anything he wanted less. He glanced down at his half-eaten spring roll and wondered of the implications of getting it to-go. He didn’t feel well. Not here, not with the looming dread of the idea that Leah had known all this time. Look at how she kept glancing at Thor, it could be interpreted as sizing him up.

“Yeah, I’m just glad we’re together again.” She kissed his cheek again. _For control, for power, to show off that I'm hers_.

“Excuse me, may I please go to the restroom?” Loki asked. Nobody objected and he pushed himself up.

Bathrooms were split into four sections: Alphas, Omegas, Beta Males, and Beta Females. For rather obvious reasons, it wasn’t a great idea to have any of these groups together, though it had long been proposed that Beta Males and Alphas ought to be able to go together (both groups could use a urinal) and Beta Females and Omegas go together (male Omegas were _rare_ , not **_rare_** -rare, but fairly uncommon. In Loki’s entire grade there were four of them- half of the male Omegas at UCL were on the soccer team, just think about that). Still, this was a fancier kind of restaurant, so the four classes were still respectfully distinguished.

Loki disappeared into the Omega restrooms.

He used the toilet, washed his hands, and stared at himself for a good long minute in the restroom mirror.

Leah couldn’t know. Had she known back then, she would have probably thought it was hot and tried to either work it into their relationship or manipulate him with it. That was the old Leah. The **_new_** Leah wouldn’t have let it go quiet, she was too bubbly and energetic. And if she was a bit weird around Thor, well then why wouldn’t she be? He _had_ kept her a secret from him, and she’d been informed of it. Besides, she knew his parents knew that she’d dated Loki before, why wouldn’t she assume that Thor had also known, she probably thought he blamed her for Loki’s past or something (which of course he did, because he was frigging Thor).

Loki splashed some water in his face and grabbed a towel to dry off. The door opened, Leah stepped in.

“Hey, Lokes, you alright? You seem a bit tense tonight, should we maybe go home?”

“No, no, it’s alright, I’m sorry. I was just… I was stressed about a homework assignment one of my lecturers gave me, I didn’t know if she’d gotten the email or not because she **_never_** confirms when she gets stuff. It’s worth like 2% of my grade, but…”

“I get it.” Leah smiled, knowingly. “2% adds up.” She stepped further in. “You know, keeping them waiting sure is rude, but… I’ve never had sex in a fancy restaurant bathroom.”

“Never say never.”

.

It had been three minutes and yet Jarnsaxa and Thor both still stared at the door gobsmacked. 

“So, she’s…” Jarnsaxa started, in disbelief.

“Yeah. She’s, uh, she’s an Omega.” Thor nodded. “I didn’t expect that, to be quite honest. I thought she was a Beta.”

“Same, I mean, she smells like _nothing_! Then again, us Omegas don’t really have the strongest of noses.” Jarnsaxa shook his head. “I mean… it’s legal, and they’re not hurting anybody.”

“Right, of course… how do they, when they're on heat though…?” Thor wondered.

“You don’t _need_ a knot on your heat, Thor. I imagine they do just fine with fisting.”

“Please, that’s my little brother you’re talking about.”

“You were the one who asked!”

_Eventually_ , the pair came out of the bathroom, smelling like deodorant and floral soap. The next dish arrived, the mains. For Leah, Jarnsaxa and Thor this was a nice, freshly cooked, smoked salmon paired with a poached egg, some almond shavings, and a small helping of rice that came with gravy. Loki got Ratatouille. It was paired with some nice 2015 Red Vanaheim Valley Wine. 

It seemed that the conversation had all but ended when Loki had gone to the restroom. Loki sat there, waiting for dessert so they could go home. Leah got a text. When she caught Thor and Jarnsaxa having a quick chat, she leaned in a little closer to Loki. “My roommate’s out.”

The implications reached his brain in real time with zero lag. He nodded wildly his affirmation. Oh fuck yes were they going to Leah’s after this. He deserved a good fuck after, well, the last one. But then also after this train wreck of a double date.

Dessert was a nice, vegan ice-cream that Loki rejoiced in the fact that they _all_ had to suffer through. 

They each paid their portion of the bill. Loki informed Thor that he was going home with Leah, to which Jarnsaxa winked at Thor and quickly groped his… Loki didn’t want to think about that, the audacity of that slattern. No, what he _wanted_ to think of instead were Leah’s soft breasts, and Leah’s warm thighs, and Leah. Just. Fucking. Leah.


	14. There's a hole in my soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said Thursday, but I just couldn't stop myself :((((
> 
> I think I'll just try to slow down the chapters a bit until Oct 21, rather than limiting how often I post.

“He’s a bit of a narcissist, you know?” Jarnsaxa said, pulling his pants on. He’d just woken up after a lovely round of fucking with Thor. Thor too was getting dressed.

“Who?”

“Your brother.”

“How so?” Thor frowned. He could be imagining it, but sometimes it felt like Jarnsaxa and Loki didn’t like each other all that much.

“Did you not see Leah? He’s dating someone who looks **_exactly_** like him, they could pass as twins.” Jarnsaxa started looking around for his shirt.

“They do _not_ look alike.”

“Thor, she looks more like his sister than you do his brother. Dark hair, tall, green eyes, pale skin, same cheek and chin structure, same arched eyebrows.” Jarnsaxa pointed out.

“Nah.” Thor shook his head in denial.

.

Holy Norns, they did look just like each other! Thor spotted them on Sunday holding hands and walking in the park. They were like-like **_twins_**. Was Loki really just dating himself!?

But they liked different things, Thor reasoned. Loki’s future career path was tech, Leah’s was finance, those two fields were nothing alike… except that you had to be good at maths, of course, meaning that you had to have a fairly technical mind, meaning you had to be logical… so yes, you would agree on most things, probably… oh this was just too much.

.

Loki grimaced at the scale. 2kgs. He’d managed to put on 2kgs. This was so hopeless! And he told Leah as much in the park, when she asked why he was so sulky.

“Well, you don’t have to change anything, you’re perfect the way you are!” She insisted. Bullshit, he was so sick of hearing lies like that.

“I want to lose a few without putting muscle on, but every time I try to lose weight I wind up with muscle.” He complained, frustrated.

She went quiet for a while. “Well, uh, you know…”

“I know what?”

“Uhm… Alphas put muscle on quite easily.”

“Yeah, but I’m an _Omega_.”

“An Omega on Alpha hormones.” She said.

It was his turn to go quiet for a while. “You don’t think…”

“That the suppressants are the reason you can’t really lose weight? Yeah, I do. Sorry, Lokes, you’re just going to have to love how you are now.”

“Yeah…”

.

It took him a half a month to decide to go off of his suppressants. He shoved them over to the back of his closet. Maybe he could do them irregularly? Maybe he could workout super hard, lose the weight, and then go right back on them? That last one seemed like the best course of action.

Apparently cutting protein from his diet hadn’t been a good idea because meat keeps your stomach occupied for a while, whereas replacing that meat with something like a sandwich when you’re hungry, or something like a cake was just a bad idea.

Thor knocked on his door that night. “Uh, Loki?”

“Yes, Thor.”

“Uhmm… there’s-there’s no more vegan stuff, Loki.” Thor said, timidly.

“I know that. I told you earlier, I was just trying something out. I’m not a vegan anymore.” Thor exhaled what looked like a sigh of relief and pulled Loki in for one big, ginormous hug.

“Thank you brother, I was afraid I’d have to get mother to intervene.”

Oh Thor.

.

Upsides to being off of suppressants: he was finally losing the weight he’d wanted in the way he’d wanted to; he felt all-around jolly (Verity had seemed concerned); After the first week he could wear something short-sleeved.

Downsides?: He had to stay the fuck away from Thor for fear of his brother triggering another heat (he wasn’t stupid, he knew that smelling Thor’s sweat through his shirt that day had been what had started this whole mess, and he still resented himself for smelling it longer than necessary); he seemed to be doing worse at school without it.

Luckily, Thor was a bit preoccupied with his bitchy boyfriend these days, so he didn’t notice Loki withdrawing ever so slightly.

Oh, that was another side effect! He had moments of uncontrollable lust for Thor, where he’d dig around in his brother’s hamper and suck on his dirty underwear. _Gross_ , he’d think later, but what the Omega in him wanted it got.

.

Soon, Christmastime was upon them. Thor had decided to bring Jarnsaxa home (though he’d be arriving a day after them), what a treat. Loki was not stupid enough to even try to bring Leah home. Not _again_ , anyways.

While Odin and Loki bitched about politics, Thor turned to Frigga.

“Mother… Loki’s, uh, he’s dating someone.”

“Then why didn’t he bring him home?” She pouted.

“It’s a girl.”

“Oh? Beta or Alpha?” Loki didn’t really seem all that into girls, due to his innate need to be protected from himself, not that a girl couldn’t do that, but she knew from experience back in her time that few were willing to, and those who were were typically Alphas (Alpha females were about as rare as Omega males).

“ _Omega_.” Frigga went still.

“What’s her name?” Her voice dropped.

“Leah.”

“Shit!” She cursed, blinking back tears.

Let’s get one thing straight: Frigga never blamed Leah for her shenanigans back when she was a young girl. She knew that both Leah _and_ Hela had grown up in an abusive household- heck, back in the day, all sorts of rumours circled about that place. Someone said the mother was an alcoholic, other said the mother was dead, one even suggested that the mother was Surtur’s daughter as well.

Whatever the case was, nobody ever saw that woman. They **_did_** see Surtur though, and lots of his drunk, raging arse!

And Frigga always knew, deep down, that Leah didn’t _mean_ to do bad by Loki, at least not at first. She was just a deeply troubled girl having to learn how to navigate the world on her own.

That did not mean that she was _right_ for Loki, nor that Loki was _right_ for her. In fact, quite the opposite, really. She’d predicted how that relationship was going to end about a month after their one-year-aversary and hadn’t even batted an eye when Loki had come home snivelling about how Leah had cheated on him with their best friend.

“This is not good.” She said, finally. “This is not good at all.”

“Mother, what was it that happened between them? I’ve been unable to get a clear answer on this.”

“Maybe that is for the best… Thor, look out for your brother.” Frigga said, firmly.

Norns above, Thor hated it when his family gave him those weird, vague, cryptic answers.

.

Jarnsaxa arrived at the family house the next day, true to his word. He was dressed up in a brown parka with black leggings and brown boots. He had his beautiful blonde hair out and loose, combed narrowly around his thin face. He looked stunning, Thor smiled, like an angel had fallen right from the sky.

Loki scoffed. Fucking ponce.

“Jarnsaxa, welcome.” Frigga greeted the man with a hug.

“Thank you for having me, Mr and Mrs Odinson.” He smiled at them both, bowing his head slightly in submission. He was pretty when he smiled, Loki could almost see what Thor saw in him.

“The pleasure is all ours, please, come in.” She smiled.

“Pleasure to meet you, lad.” Odin held out his hand.

“Likewise, sir.” Jarnsaxa took it and shook it.

Fuck. Ing. Ponce.

.

Odin and Jarnsaxa got on quite well, Odin just seemed happy that Thor had brought someone Scandinavian home. They left out the fact that Jarnsaxa was related to Byleistr and Laufey in any way, shape, or form.

Once more, Thor thought about bringing the fact to Loki’s attention. He would never, of course, but he felt slightly amused at the thought of Loki finding out that Jarnsaxa and Loki were related by blood, more ‘family’ than Thor and Loki were, technically.

“Whatcha thinking about there, son?” Frigga popped out of the kitchen to ask. Frigga and Loki were busy making gingerbread men, a long held Odinson family tradition. One as ancient as Frigga and Odin’s marriage (Thor could still remember Loki’s first time making them: Loki was hanging from a sack around Frigga’s waist, maybe 8 months?, a dummy in his mouth, and Frigga had gently put a little ball of dough in his hand for him to squeeze. Monitoring him to make sure that he didn’t accidentally eat it. When he’d dropped it, she baked the little thing as it was and fed it to him. He was pretty sure there was a series of photos that had documented the ordeal).

“Just… something. I can’t really say.”

“I’m your _mother_.”

“You keep secrets too,” he reminded, popping his head into the kitchen and pointing at Loki, who was wearing that little Christmas apron that Frigga and Odin had gifted him two years ago, and was putting icing on the cookies.

“I’m sure Loki will tell you himself when the time is right.” She continued their whispered conversation.

“Which is…?”

“When they inevitably break up again.”

“You don’t seem to have a lot of faith in them.”

“Not an iota. They’re not made for long-term, Loki and Leah… they’re toxic.” She grimaced. “As I said, watch out for your brother.” And then she disappeared right back into the kitchen.

“It would help so much if you just told me what to watch out for.” He murmured to himself.

.

Christmas was rather uneventful this year. Loki blamed that on Jarnsaxa’s presence, the man had the ability to suck the life out of everything.

Odin cornered Loki in Loki’s old room and shut the door behind them. “Son, what’s this I hear about you and Leah being back together?”

“Who told you?”

“Jarnsaxa.” Odin lied. It didn’t take a clairvoyant to see that Loki and Jarnsaxa hated one another, nor did it take one to note that if he were to accuse Jarnsaxa of this rather than Thor, they could avoid a huge, big argument. 

“Well, father, she’s _changed_.”

“Be that as it may, are you certain that she’s what you need in your life right now?”

Loki sighed. “Father, it broke me the way that things ended with her. I really thought that she could be the one for a good while there… it’s kind of nice to have her back.”

Odin could tell he was getting nowhere with this. Oh well, it was all good and fun until somebody got married, he supposed. He could always put a hit out on her or something if it ever came to that. “Son… aren’t you worried that you’re using her as an outlet?”

“An outlet for what?”

Odin kept his mouth shut and walked out of the room. It was time to let Loki draw his own conclusions, he reasoned. The boy was an adult, it was time he started to think like one.

.

On Christmas Day, they ate an entire roasted pig with a bunch of sides.

“Loki, put some more food on your plate! You look malnourished!” Loki rolled his eyes, his mother was always like this! He’d barely even lost a kg from the weight he was at when he’d originally started his weight-loss journey. _Literally_ , the scale had shown a deficit of 0.8kg. This woman.

“He does look a bit thinner.” Odin murmured in agreement.

“That’s because I’ve been working out.” Loki flipped his hair, well aware that Jarnsaxa, the bitch, just masked a giggle behind his hand. For emphasis, he brought up his left arm and pulled his sweater sleeve up before flexing it.

The Alpha hormone in him hadn’t **_completely_** worn off (wouldn’t for another month at the least, according to a calculator he’d found on the dark web), and he still had quite a bit of that muscle definition from earlier, though it had wound up buried under a bit of fat from his vegan days.

“Impressive.” Thor noted, looking at the bicep that formed whenever Loki clenched his fist. Loki smirked. Take that Jarnsaxa, you skinny bitch.

“ _Thank you_ , so I’m not thinner, father, I’m just _fitter_.” Loki finished serving himself triumphantly. Let Jarnsaxa snicker, maybe then Thor would see what an evil demon he had invited into their parents’ house.

.

That Christmas (and the New Years that followed) had definitely seen Loki gain a few, though he had been careful to fill his plate up with fruits and veggies and other filling, low-calorie stuff. Let Jarnsaxa get fat, he’d be out of the picture soon enough.

Loki had no idea what it was that made him so possessive over Thor once more. He was in a relationship with Leah: a healthy, loving, committed one; and yet he still wanted his brother!

Grr, so frustrating. It was undoubtedly the mating bond, it had to be the mating bond.

.

Loki stared at himself in the mirror, mildly frustrated. He’d lost all the weight he’d wanted to. He was now slender, and as not-pudgy as it got, lightly toned but with no abs, exactly as he’d wanted.

But this was _not_ the figure he’d wanted. Urgh, he wanted to scream!

Maybe… maybe he ought to try and lose a few more? Maybe that would give him the narrower waist he craved for. Nothing crazy, but just maybe one or two?

.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” Verity frowned, staring at what Loki had put no his plate.

“Yeah, I’m not really hungry today. I ate a heavy breakfast.” He shrugged. She looked at him with suspicion, but ultimately let it pass. Again, he was the only one who could ever get away with lying to her.

“How was your holiday?”

“Well, Thor brought _Jarnsaxa_ home with us.” Loki grimaced.

Verity winced. She didn’t like Jarnsaxa all too much either. To be frank, nobody in their group did, not after that bar fight. She was pretty sure that Jarnsaxa had been the only one who didn’t participate in it, funny how that worked given that it was started by his cousin and boyfriend.

“How’d it go?”

Loki shrugged. “Nothing happened, I suppose. Though apparently he let it slip to my parents that I’m with Leah again.”

“Oh… is that a bad thing?”

“Well, I mean, not really, I guess. It’s just that things didn’t end so well last time, between Leah and me that is, so I’d been hoping to keep it quiet for a bit longer.”

“Such as?”

“I don’t know, maybe after marriage.” He joked, miserably. “My mom was quiet the whole of Christmas, she barely even talked to me.”

“You think she’s upset with you?” Verity concluded.

“Yeah, and it’s all that stupid prick’s fault.” Loki bit into his apple. He was following the Omega Diet. Mostly fruits and vegetables with some yoghurt and meat littered in here and there. His lunch was a salad and an apple. 250kCal together, nice.

“Oh, Loki… maybe you should try calling your mother? Maybe you could even meet up after exams or something?” Verity suggested kindly.

“Yeah, maybe.”

.

Loki was now full-on frustrated. He’d gone down an entire kilogram, and yet he still lacked the figure he’d wanted.

He was in a grouchy mood the whole day, even when Leah came over to watch a movie while Thor was out.

“What’s got you so sad, huh?” She asked, taking her fingers and pulling his face into a smile.

“Well… it’s nothing. It’s stupid, really.”

“Come on, tell mama what you need?” It really was odd, wasn’t it, that despite all the issues he’d had with his father growing up, it was a ‘mommy issues’ he’d somehow developed? (Or maybe it was because it would just be plain weird to refer to Leah as ‘daddy’… he might actually just try that someday.)

“Nothing, really. Just… uh, bad day. Jarnsaxa came over for the holidays, my mom barely spoken to me the whole time.” He confessed.

“Oh, poor baby. Maybe we should skip the movie and get to things that _actually_ make you happy, huh?” She smirked. “I got a little surprise for you.”

“What is it?”

“Late Christmas gift, in return for that beautiful dress you bought me. I thought we could be a little more adventurous in the bedroom.”

“More than we’ve already been?” He snorted. In the past he’d let Leah go full BDSM on him. He didn’t mind, she was very good at it. Though a part of him kind of wanted to know how she’d gotten so good at aftercare (something he himself had only learned was a thing in his first year at UCL), given that he was fairly certain he’d been her first. They’d done other kinky stuff too: exhibitionism, where he’d fucked her in a seedy motel where he’d been certain there had been a fair amount of peepholes; public sex (no, not just the bathroom incident) where she’d jacked him under a table while waiting for food with a bunch of their friends at the time (including Daimon); and, of course, they’d done watersports… enough said about that one.

“ _Cross-dressing_.” She smirked.

His face crinkled. “Leah, you’re the reason I’m into panties and bras, we’ve done that before.” He reminded her.

She shook her head, still excited if her face was anything to go by. “Not this.” She got up and beckoned him over to his room where she’d put her stuff down back when she’d first entered. She returned with a tall pair of golden high heels and, Loki’s breath caught, a corset.

He’d never seen one in real life up until this date. It was green with black lace and gold swirls adorning it. Satin, with white pearls going down the middle. It was beautiful.

He wasn’t an idiot, of course, he knew that corsets were bad for you, but that was long term, this was just for one night. One night of undoubtedly hot sex.

“I’ve got black panties.” He said.

“And I’ve got you earrings.” She smiled (he already had holes from a dare he’d rather not talk about, though in all fairness she’d tried to talk him out of. Frigga had flipped).

.

Loki stared at himself in the mirror with the corset on. It added a more feminine look to his waist, bringing it in a bit. Exactly as he’d wanted, dammit!

He already had his panties on, so he pushed in the earrings, put on some makeup (yes, he still had quite a bit lying around), and lastly put on the heels. Leah was in the other room (the guest room), putting on her ensemble of black heels, a pitch black dildo (9 inches in length, 4.5 in girth, knobby along the whole shaft though), and a leather bra with a leather pleated skirt.

He brushed his hair twice with the comb, knowing full-well that in less than ten minutes his hair wouldn’t matter all that much. Then he spritzed himself with that perfume the Grandmaster had gifted him which he had never used.

Leah walked into the room and sniffed him. “That smells nice.” She smiled. “You get yourself all dolled up for me? You really are the perfect bitch.”

“Yes, mama.”

“Mmm, good girl.” She walked in and dragged him by the hair (she knew he liked it rough) to the bed. She sat down and had him straddle her hips. “Good girl,” she stroked his face. “Such a pretty little thing you are, all dolled up to get your cunt fucked.” She moved her hips upwards suggestively, the dildo nudging at Loki’s panties.

“Yes, mama. Only for you, mama.” He ground down on her hips, soaking wet, desperate for friction with her dildo. This one was a bit different from the other ones, he knew. It was a bit more solid and less flexible, it hurt a little, and he’d feel sore in the morning, but it sure did feel _delicious_ to have something so solid in him, mostly nice when his muscles clenched down on it. He licked his lips in want.

“Good little girl,” she moved his corset down a bit and laid back so she could use both her hands. She rubbed at his nipples. “What pretty tits you’ve got here! So young, so fresh. Bet they’ll blossom once you’re full with child. Is that what you want? You want mama to get you pregnant?”

“Mmm, anything for you mama.”

“Good answer.” She pulled hispanties a bit to the side. “Are you all stretched out or do you need a bit of prepping?”

“Prepping, please.”

“Then get up here and sit on my face.” Loki complied, finding it a bit hard to navigate the bed in the golden heels. Eventually he managed to get onto his knees over her face, though his ankles did hurt a bit from the angle that they were in.

All thoughts of discomfort fled his mind when she pulled his pantie aside and buried her face in his quim, using her spare hand to jack him off. She tongue-fucked him, pushing her tongue into his lips and wiggling it around, which left his mind blank. Then, finally, she removed the hand that was jacking him, and moved it into his cunt. She started with the index finger, as usual, before adding the middle-finger in next to it and scissoring him. Then went in the ring finger, and by the time Loki had started a right puddle on her face, she knew he was ready to be fucked. 

Leah got up and pushed him down so that his head was comfortably on the pillow. She kissed up and down his right leg, so long and elegant and beautiful, it’s length only accentuated by the high heel Loki was wearing. “Open wide.” She joked, bringing the phallus down to his nether lips and pushing in.

“ _Aaah_!” he gasped. Arching his back ever so slightly.

“Yes, good little girl.” Leah moaned, pushing in further and further until she’d bottomed out. She gave him a moment to adjust, and when he gave her a little nod, she started to fuck him.

She started it slow, she knew that this dildo hurt a bit, but she also knew that it felt _amazing_ to orgasm around it, that the burn gotten from it was rather pleasurable indeed. She jacked his cock off, she didn’t dare aiming for his g-spot with this dildo. The area was sensitive and she didn’t want to risk injuring him.

“Harder, momm-mama!” He corrected himself quickly. The last time he’d called her that, they’d been sixteen, in his parents’ garage. She’d laughed at him.

“Mmm, I quite like ‘mommy’ too.” She said, obliging him and speeding up her thrusts and strokes. “Do you like that, huh baby girl? Do you like the way that _mommy_ fills you up with her big, hard cock?”

“Yess! Oh, Leah!” He was close.

“Cum for me, Loki.” She leaned in, shoving hard as she bent over to kiss his lips.

He orgasmed, his walls clenching and squeezing around the rock-hard dildo. It hurt, but in a good way, and he moaned, throwing his head back. His corset littered in his own seed. He got up and kicked off the heels, before switching their positions, so that it was Leah lying on her back now.

He took off Leah’s heels for her, and kissed the soles of her feet, before leaning up and taking a nipple into his mouth while working his fingers into her cunt.

“Oh, Loki!” She gasped, threading her fingers into his hair, as though she could draw him further onto the nipple, which was impossible obviously. He took it as a good sign, bringing his hand down to finger her. He thumbed her clit as he slowly begun to work the rest of the fingers of his right hand into her.

She wound up orgasming around his fist as he pushed it in and out of her.

“Thanks.” She breathed, coming down from her high.

_No, Leah_. He thought, joining her on the bed, still wearing the corset and earrings and makeup. _Thank_ ** _you_** _, my love_.


	15. Come home with me

And so it was, just like the panties and bras, Loki went on to buy a few corsets. He just couldn’t stop himself, they were all so beautiful! Besides, it’s not like he intended to wear them **_everyday_**.

He bought a green one, a blue one, a red one, two different black ones, and a white one. The green one was a nice, dark emerald green, with pearls down it and black lace trimmings; the blue one was a nice, royal blue with golden markings tracing it, and a zipper down the back; the red one was a dark-red colour with black ribbon, and possibly made from the hardest material of all of the corsets. There was a black bow at the top of it, and then black lines trailing down the rest of the corset, from top to bottom, spaced about 5cm apart; then there were the black ones. One was just a plain black corset, with a sweetheart neckline and some glitter on the fabric; the other one was lace, with the standard corset ropes at the back; finally, the white one, also mostly lace, there was a rope design on the front, but you pulled from behind, it was the simplest, most elegant corset he’d bought, and he treasured it the most.

And he never overdid it! He never tied the corset too tightly, _ever!_ Just like with bras, he started by wearing them everyday.

He put the green corset on and threw his black t-shirt over it, and put on some black jeans, and filled in his eyebrows (because, um, who left the house without like the most perfectest of eyebrows?) and put some balm onto his lips. He shoved on some sneakers and went out to grab his breakfast.

Thor took him in. “T-shirt, eh?” It’s January.

“When have I ever felt the cold, Thor?” Loki flipped his hair which he hadn’t cut since December.

“Fair point. You look nice, are you going out with Leah?”

“Nope.” Loki grabbed a banana and an apple. “I’m going to school!” He grabbed his backpack and went out the door.

_Thor had said he looked nice_!

.

And of course, because the corsets gave him the shape he wanted, he could go back on his hormones. Thank the Norns, he had been anticipating a heat.

Well, thank the Norns a little less.

“ _Aaah! Aaah! Thor, fuck me!_ ” They’d been fucking for thre… wait a second… Loki cursed. That bloody bitch had gone into heat, _at Loki and Thor’s apartment!_ Damn that fucking desperate slut!

Loki started packing a duffle. He was going over to Verity’s, he supposed. He texted her and she sent back an affirmation that she could host him for the week. He tossed in two corsets, some underwear, five tops and two pairs of jeans. Then went in his laptop, chargers, toothbrush, toothpaste, bathing supplies, and he slung the towel over his jacket, knowing it wouldn’t fit. He’d come back for his books later, he reasoned, Verity lived like ten minutes away by foot.

He walked into the main area, Thor opened his door, shirtless, sweating and panting, wearing only his boxers. His hair was a little wild, and it was clear that he needed a glass of water or something. “Hey, Loki! Sorry about the noise, we just got back from our date and-”

“I know!” Loki slammed the main door shut, already outside of the apartment.

.

“He just had the _audacity_ to show up at our apartment and go into heat! Like, I know that you can't control when your heat starts, but you can't deny that it's awfully suspect!”

“Yeah." And Jarnsaxa seemed just the type to do something like that if it were even remotely possible. Verity really didn’t like that guy, he just seemed so… _fake_.

“I’m sorry for intruding upon your alone time.”

“Never.” She swore. “Loki, you could come over at 3 AM and you still wouldn’t be intruding. You’re my best-friend.”

“Thanks, but I’d never do that, it just seems inconsiderate.”

“Which is exactly why I love you so much.”

“Aww, _Verity_!” Loki brought his hand over his chest. Verity chuckled at his theatrics.

.

Jarnsaxa’s heat ended soon enough.

“Thanks, Thor, for keeping me company through my heat.” He smiled up at his big, blond hero.

“My pleasure. I know we’re not mated, but there’s still a risk of pregnancy.” Like 18%. “Would you like me to get you some birth control, Loki’s got some on hand in his room?”

“Thanks, that’d be great.” He could always tie Thor down to him _after_ he graduated, school came first.

“My pleasure.” Thor went over to Loki’s room and opened the cabinet. He got out a stool and looked into the highest… shelf. He sniffed around, overcome with a sudden burst of aggression and a desire to go to the gym. He looked up and saw a case. Frowning, he took it down and opened it.

_These were Alpha Hormones! Fresh ones too, not old ones! Loki hadn’t stopped like he’d promised!_ Thor found himself getting more and more furious, not helped in the least when he flung the box to the floor in anger, the glass of the vials smashing upon impact, releasing the hormones onto the carpet. _That little fucking snake, Thor was going to hand his arse to him as soon as he got back, dammit!_ Thor grabbed the birth control and handed it to Jarnsaxa.

“Thor, are you alright, you seem a little worked up?” Jarnsaxa said, concerned for his boyfriend. He sat up and rubbed Thor’s bare shoulders.

Thor shook his head, exhaling angrily. “Everything’s fine, I just have a little brother to throttle.”

.

Loki could not have suspected it when he got home. Verity had helped him bring over his stuff, he’d hugged her goodbye, put his keys in the door, opened it, been his by the scent of sex everywhere, and wound up with a hand in his collar, dragging him into his own bedroom and flinging him down into it.

At first he thought it was a robber, then he thought it was a rapist, then he realised it was an angry Thor.

“You swore you’d stop!” His brother barked at him. 

"What?"

“The hormones, Loki! You swore you’d stop taking them, are you insane!?”

It hit him then. “How’d you find out!?”

“I was getting birth control for Jarnsaxa!”

"From _my_ room? That’s an invasion of my privacy, Thor!” Loki defended.

“Well it’s a good thing I did, because I found out that my idiot little brother _still_ hadn't learned his lesson about suppressants!"

“So? What's the big deal, Thor? So what if I take them and they build up into a mega heat? Need I remind you that it's not like I could get mated _twice_.”

"No, but some knothead could give you a bite, Loki, and then the next time you see me you’ll drive yourself into insanity!”

“Well maybe I’d rather just die than have another heat, huh? Did you ever think of that!?”

“Norns, do you even care about anyone other than yourself!? Do you realise how selfish that would be!?” Thor scolded his brother.

“ME!? I’m doing _what the fuck I want with my damned body, Thor_! **_My body, my choice, didn’t they teach you that at freshers week!?_** ” Loki screamed.

“Well why then, why would you rather die than have another heat, huh?” Thor asked, his voice dropping low. Loki paused. Predictable, of course Loki didn’t have an answer for this. “I fucking knew it! It’s that Leah, isn’t it? She probably put you on these.”

Loki shook his head, no. “No, Thor. I. Don’t. Want. Heats.”

“Then why won’t you tell me why?”

“ _Because it’s none of your goddamned fucking business, Thor, now get out of my room!_ ”

“Fine… but then I’m telling mother and father.” Thor warned.

“Why!? How is this any of their business!?”

“Because they are wasting their hard-earned money on sending you to a good school, when you’re still the same piece of trash you were back in high-school.”

Thor left the room.

.

Thor didn’t talk to Loki, he’d clearly gone back to avoiding him.

Loki didn't have any messages from either of his parents, nor did he have any missed calls, so he was going to guess that Thor hadn’t called them.

And then, after two days, Thor just completely disappeared for a week. The first day, Loki had just assumed that he’d gone off to Jarnsaxa’s. The second day was a bit odd. The third day he’d tried calling around but nobody knew where Thor’d gone (Sif, Fandral and Hogun sure did travel a lot). The fourth day he’d called his parents, but it’d gone to voicemail (and neither of those two knew how to fucking operate voicemail, dammit). The fifth day he’d asked Verity if he ought to contact the police. The sixth day he actually went down to the police station, but chickened out of it midway in. The seventh day Loki’d just lain in his bed and cried. On the eighth day, Loki had almost cornered Jarnsaxa after the man’s maths class to ask if he knew where Thor was.

That was the day that Thor had come back home, finally. Loki still didn’t see him, but he noticed that his brother’s door was closed, where it had been left open by him for the entire week, and a quick glance at the edge of the door gained by leaning _in_ to the wall told him that the door was locked, so at the very least if it wasn’t Thor, then it was his murderer.

But it was Thor, it had to be, because Loki could smell what was left of Thor’s beef-chicken soup, and also he could see more food had been added to the fridge.

_And it felt too safe for it to not be Thor_.

.

And then it was back to not talking to each other, but this time with just the barest added hint of animosity. If Loki saw Thor, he said nothing, and vice-versa. If Loki needed something from the kitchen, he’d just walk right in and say nothing to Thor, act like that whole ‘absent for a week’ thing never happened. He wound up being blocked from Thor’s social media, which was fine because he just went and did the same exact thing to Thor. 

Loki once even took it a step further, he wore a tank top around the house one day, his needle-marked arms exposed because, oh yeah, _En sent more_. Thor said nothing still, which only infuriated Loki more.

And he made this known on Sunday when he bitched to Verity about it on his second cup of beer. Lacrosse soc was hosting a party at the bar because they’d just won their big game against Kings, and Verity happened to play Lacrosse, so of course Loki was there.

_Sarise_ came by with a tray of cocktails balanced on her right hand. “Anyone want one?”

“Thanks!” He grabbed one off of her tray, and Verity did the same. 

“Why aren’t you guys talking to each other anyways?” She asked.

“Cuz he went through my stuff and found something he shouldn’t have.” He shook his head. “Nothing illegal, chill.” He lied.

“Oh, well, still, sucks. I just don’t get it, Thor always seemed so level-headed.”

“I know, right!” He agreed, oblivious to the fact that Verity had implied that whatever had really gone down, Loki was most likely in the wrong.

“I’m gonna get another drink. You want one?”

“No, that’s it for me, thanks!”

Loki got a… it was pink. And then a blue one. And then this really cool one that was purple and yellow and kind of looked like it glowed. Then he felt sick, so he went and vomited. Then he passed out. Then he woke up in ahospital with an IV drip attached to him.

He blinked his eyes opened, confused. What had happened? Oh, Thor was there talking to a doctor. Nice.

“What happened?”

“Alcohol poisoning, you’re lucky your body showed shut down before you could have any more, or you might have needed more than a stomach flush and some IVs.” Loki didn’t feel at ease from hearing this. He could have died? That was terrifying.

“Can we go home yet?”

“No. That was your doctor.” Thor gestured to where Loki’s doctor had just left from. “They want to keep you in for a few days.”

“A few days? Why?”

“To keep you on suicide watch.”

“What!?”

“Well, can you blame them? You’re not a diabetic, and yet you’ve got an arm full of what could be construed as stab wounds. You’re lucky they don’t think you’re a junkie or something, though that would be closer to the truth, wouldn’t it?”

Loki shook his head. “Where’s Verity?”

“She left, I told her I’d text her when you woke up.”

Loki nodded. “Thank you.” Thor didn’t leave. “What?”

Thor shook his head and tears started falling from his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you. When the hospital called. Loki, I thought you’d died, and the last thing we’d done was fight.”

Yeah, no that sucked. Loki sniffed, trying and failing not to cry too. “Thor, I’m sorry. I need my suppressants because I’m _scared_ , okay?”

“Scared of what, Loki?”

“Losing control.”

“You won’t, you’re an Omega.”

“Yeah, but how would you know that though? You’re an Alpha, you’ve never seen a heat from an Omega’s perspective! What if we’re just as out of control as you are during your ruts?”

“Loki…”

“I’m serious, Thor! Medicine was written by Alphas, how do you not know they’re just trying to shame us into accepting whatever we ourselves have done on our heats, huh? I couldn’t stop myself Thor.” Loki hiccuped. “I wanted you, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking you.” He was damn-near hysterical. “I don’t want heats, not again, never again. I’ll get my gland taken out if I have to, but no more heats.” 

Thor pressed pressed a kiss to Loki's forehead and dried his brother’s tears with his shirt.

“We’ll talk about this once you’re back home.”


	16. We'll see that we need them to be who we are

Thor had gotten Loki pizza from his favourite pizza place to celebrate his brother’s return home three days later. They’d deemed Loki ‘safe to himself’.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what you said, about Alphas writing medicine… you’re not wrong there, but surely an Omega would have come out by now and said that they don’t feel in control during their heats?”

“If an Omega was lead to believe that whatever they experienced through their heat was the ‘normal version’, then why would they? Remember, suppressants themselves have only been around 100 years, and they’ve been illegal through most of those years, Thor. How would people even know the difference?”

“Alright.” Thor had to admit that that was a pretty good point.

“Doesn’t matter anyways, I’m stopping.”

“Why? I thought you were adamant about never having a heat again."

Loki shook his head. "Not if it means dying… it was really scary, waking up in that hospital bed and not knowing what on Earth was going on.”

“Yeah, been there.” Thor chuckled, putting an arm around his brother.

"Sorry about that one.”

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault that Dickhead Laufeyson and his posse wanted to get beaten up.” Loki chuckled, that was a little different to how he remembered it. Loki only just realised he'd said that bit aloud.

"It's called artistic liberty, Loki." Thor stuck his nose into the air. "You wouldn't know much about it, you're simple like that." Loki rolled his eyes, unable to stop the laughter leaving his mouth. Not that he needed to, Thor seemed to enjoy it.

“And don’t worry, we can call someone over to look after you during your heat. I’ve got Verity’s number now, she’s a Beta, she’d be fine taking care of you. Or your girlfriend, I suppose.” Thor still didn’t trust that little witch.

“Thanks Thor.” Loki appreciated it, really.

.

So, the calculator tool he’d used online said that (the amount of time he’d taken the Alpha hormone for uninterrupted)/4 was roughly equal to the amount of time before the hormone wore itself out of his system.

Using logic, he surmised that it would be a few months or so after that that he went into heat, after all, Omegas weren’t known for going into heat very often (and that ‘often’ period got longer and longer with each generation, it seemed, as people were evolving).

What he didn’t expect was that during the period that he still ought to have the Alpha hormone in his blood (just a week after he’d been discharged from hospital), that his heat would just immediately hit him full swing.

Sure enough, he was dazed as fuck. His body wanted Thor, it needed his Alpha to breed him. He wound up grabbing one of Thor’s socks and jacking off into it.

Thor came home to an apartment that reeked of Omega in heat. His cock twitched in his jeans, he shook his head. He shouldn’t. _But it smelled so good, so ripe_. He took out his phone, which was at 2 percent. Better make this quick.

“Hey, Verity! Yeah, it’s Thor! I was… fuck.” He needed to pop into his room to charge his phone. What a shame that he didn’t know where she lived, he could just go over and ask her.

Loki had heard him (or smelt him, he wasn’t sure which), and popped his head out of his room. His cock was rigid in his pants, if he weren’t wearing a belt, he was certain that the smell of Loki so close would have made his dick peek out of the top of his pants.

Was he drooling? He wiped it off with his shirt sleeve. Loki opened the door fully. “Thor?” **_Want_**! “Thor, I need to be fucked.” Loki was completely naked. Loki was holding a pair of Thor’s underwear. Thor was holding Loki’s supple skin. Thor was picking Loki up. Thor was ripping his pants off. Thor was pushing into Loki. Loki was already open, _unsatisfied Omega_ , said a voice in his head. Thor was knotting Loki. Thor was filling Loki up, _with Thor’s children_ , said a voice in his head. Thor was tied to Loki. Thor was panting as he came off of his high. Thor was rolling Loki to lie on top of Thor’s chest. Loki was _light (_ had he always been this light?). Thor was clutching him to his chest.

.

Thor’s eyes widened when he woke up from his nap. What the fuck!? He glanced down, expecting to see covers and find out it was all a dream, except that it wasn’t. Loki lay sleeping next to him, and Thor’s cock was red because he’d just fucked his brother for five days straight. There was a mess of cum between Loki’s legs.

Oh what had he done!? _Cheated on his boyfriend, for starters. Committed incest once more. Made Loki cheat on someone else with him. Disappointed his parents, probably. Oh he was so going to hell for this. How were he and Loki ever supposed to regain their brotherly bond if every time Loki went into heat, they fucked!?_

Thor plucked himself out of the bed, carefully so as not to wake Loki up. He walked off into his room (which they’d apparently fucked in as well. Norns he hoped that they hadn’t fucked in the guest bedroom, that’s where his parents slept when they visited). He grabbed his clothes and got into the shower and scrubbed himself clean of any trace of any smell of Loki that one might detect from him. Oh, at some point Loki had apparently fucked him. Not that there was anything wrong with that, he’d just assumed, given that Loki had been in heat that they would have stuck to Thor fucking Loki’s cunt. Cunt... that wassuch a strong word, Thor figured he’d stick to vagina.

Hmm, Thor had never been fucked up the arse before. He barely remembered it. He was really surprised that his Alpha would let someone else fuck him, even if it was his mate, given how aggressive and dominant Alphas got, particularly in rut.

Rut. That’s what it must have been. He’d been feeling pre-rut urges the day prior to the day he’d started fucking Loki. His scent must have triggered Loki’s heat. Urgh, how could he be so careless!? He should have left a window open or something at the least, dunked his dirty clothes into warm water to bury the smell rather than leaving them lying all around his room. Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_

Loki was waiting for him in the kitchen when he finally stepped out of the shower. Loki was clean and fresh and had two cups of tea out. “We need to talk.” He said, avoiding Thor’s gaze.

“Aye, that we do… what happened?”

“I don’t know, I was in heat. I was hoping you’d have the answers.”

“That I do not.” Thor shook. “I was supposed to go into rut three days ago, guess that’s done and over with.”

“I had a banana and took a pill, so we’re good for any surprise pregnancies. Oh, this is such a mess.” Loki shook his head warily.

"Tell me about it- how have we not died of starvation?”

“I seem to remember eating food off of you."

Thor shuddered. “Nobody can know of this.”

“What? Just sweep it under the rug, you mean? How’s that been working so far?”

“Loki.” Thor pinched his nose, stressed. “Brother, this is a difficult and hard to navigate situation. Please understand that I’m not trying to anger you… it’s just rather unconventional.”

“I know.” Loki nodded in understanding. “I suppose you’re right, forgetting that this ever happened might be our only way of moving past this… it’s just that it’s convenient now, but Thor, brother, if we don’t sort things out soon I fear it’s going to get a little worse than just ‘inconvenient’.”

“How so?"

“Well, I assume that you’ll be married some day. How are you going to explain to your spouse that you can’t be around your brother anymore-”

“Because I might trigger your heat, and you’ll trigger my rut in turn?” Thor shook his head. “I honestly don’t know, Loki. God this is such a mess.”

“ _Gods,_ Thor, we’re pagan.”

.

“You haven’t been in to work all week.” Jarnsaxa complained. “You didn’t answer any of my calls.” Oh, right, Thor supposed he’d never put his phone on charge after all.

“I’m so sorry, I was in rut.” Jarnsaxa nodded, accepting the apology. He’d been monitoring Thor’s rut dates, it seemed to fall in line with those. Odd though, that he hadn’t seen Loki at school, but he’d keep that to himself. For now. 

“That’s okay then.”

“I’ll make it up to you. We can go to that Italian place, near yours.”

“ _Manggia_? Sure, pick me up at eight.” Jarnsaxa kissed Thor’s nose.

“Of course.” Wow did Thor feel tired today.

.

Loki woke up, slipped on his corset, and a nice white shirt over it. He smoothed his hair back. He was going for that whole in-a-boyband-but-I’m-the-smart-one vibe. He hadn’t been to school in nearly a week. He’d texted Verity that he’d had his heat, and she’d told his teachers for him.

He’d 16 missed texts from Leah.

_Goodnight, sweetheart!_ 😘

Next day:

_Loki, you wanna go out to the park tonight?_

_Sweetheart?_

_Are you okay?_

Next day:

_Baabe, Verity says you weren’t at school today_

_Everything alright?_

_If you need to talk I’m right here for you_

Next day:

_Loki, is everything alright?_

_Lol kinda worried you’ve been kidnapped_

_But then I guess Thor would be looking for you_

_Or Verity_

_She seems to think you’re okay_

Next day:

_Hey, I don’t know why you’ve been avoiding me_

_But maybe this will change your mind?_

A photo of her in a bra with one of his shirts on her, unbuttoned. ( ** _Hot_** )

Then another one of her strap on

_I really hope you’re not ghosting me, lol_

He’d messaged her as soon as his heat was over. 

_I’m so sorry, I was in heat! :(_

She’d replied: _Heat?_

Him: _Yeah, lmao, I’ve been off hormones since that whole alcohol poisoning thing_

_Suppressants could really ruin my life_

_Did I ever tell you about the time that I got mated?_

It took her a while to reply back: _Mated?_

Him: _Yeah, I’d taken the suppressants and they’d blown up and I wound up having sex with some rando Alpha at a bar and he bit my neck._

Her: _Oh, Loki_

_Poor baby_

_Do you feel anything for the Alpha_?

Him: _Oh gods no._

_And he already has three mates_

_I noped the fuck out of there_.

He felt a bit bad lying, obviously, but a little white lie wouldn’t hurt. She didn’t need to know that that Alpha only had one mate, and that Loki had had feelings for him for as long as he’d known about romance.

Her: _Lol, thank the gods_

_Don’t worry, I can’t drive you into mate mania_

_I’m an Omega like you_ 🙃

Him: _And blessed be you for that_

_Anyways, I want to see your face_

_When?_

Her: _We could swing by the park tonight?_

Him: _It’s a date_.

.

It was driving Laufey crazy, it was. Why? Of all the children that Frigga could have adopted, why _his_ disowned son?

Laufey had been careful in covering his tracks. He had taken care his brother’s disowned son, Jarnsaxa, when Jarnsaxa’s mother had divorced Thrym. He'd done so so that nobody could accuse Laufey of having Farbauti killed because of Loki, should Loki be found. No, the way he’d staged it, she’d been murdered by a burglar who had stolen Loki.

Plain and simple. Those were the details the police had, he’d made sure of it.

So, knowing that it would besmirch Laufey’s good name should his third ‘son’ appear out of nowhere, what other ulterior motives could Odin have for raising the boy as his? Maybe he sought to win Loki’s allegiance and sew hatred in his heart to fell Laufey and his sons? Maybe he meant it to sew discord in Laufey’s own family. Helblindi was taking his damned sweet time finding a wife, he’d get distracted if he just now found out he had a hale ‘brother’ roughly his age (7 years younger).

He’d tried to subtly ask his nephew for details about his boyfriend’s brother (because whaddayaknow? Jarnsaxa was dating the elder Odinson), but he had barely any to give. Jarnsaxa must not get on well with Loki. He didn’t want to involve his own sons in this, of course, because if they got too close they might find out and then everything he’d ever worked toward was absolutely _ruined_.

There really was only one last option in all of this. 

He’d have to go to London himself, he supposed. And if it came to it, he’d probably have to kill the brat.


	17. Enter: Laufey

Thor sweated through his entire date with Jarnsaxa. Something just felt off about this.

_Well of course something’s off, you fucked your brother while you were dating someone else. What the fuck, Thor!?_

Jarnsaxa didn’t seem to notice. He flirted with Thor, Thor flirted back. It was all very mechanical, too mechanical in Thor’s mind.

He spent so much time afterwards obsessing over that date afterwards that he didn’t even see the message Jarnsaxa sent him until the next morning.

Jarnsaxa: 

_Hey Thor! :)_

_I won’t be coming into work this week_

_My uncle’s visiting_

Thor frowned. Laufey? What could he possibly want. He shook his head. As long as Laufey didn’t want to see Loki, everything was alright, surely. So then why did he feel uneasy about it anyways? He ought to check on Loki.

Except that that would be a bit awkward, wouldn’t it? Not that he was avoiding his brother or anything, but… Thor put a shirt on, then his coat and tie. There, better, now he could go and see his brother… maybe he ought to put on his shoes first.

Thor knocked on the door, wearing a grey wife-beater and some black shorts. His hair, which had been getting longer recently (quite pretty, actually, it was almost shoulder-length) was tied up behind him, held together by a clip, almost like a bun.

“What?” Loki asked.

“Laufey’s in London. Just, uhm, just be careful, alright?”

Loki nodded slowly. “Is he here on official business or something? Did he bring that meathead son of his with him?”

“No, it’s just, you’re… ugh, never mind.” There was no reason he should tell Loki, surely. There was no reason that Loki needed to know the horrid truth behind his coming to live with Frigga.

“Alright, weirdo. Have fun at work!”

“Er, same I guess, have fun at school!”

“No lectures today!” Loki laughed maniacally, shutting his door. So unfair.

.

The next day, as Loki was walking to school, he noticed a big, black Land Rover dropping off… Jarnsaxa? What the heck? Loki didn’t know Jarnsaxa was rich (though he certainly acted like a snob).

Loki shot Verity a look, she simply shrugged. “He’s an international student, he had to have had _some_ money.”

“I suppose you’re right. Wait, isn’t Iceland EEA?”

“Oh, right… urgh, it would take effort to look it up. Who knows, maybe he has a sugar daddy?”

“I should tell Thor.”

“Loki, I was kidding. You should wait till you have all the facts first, it would suck so hard if Thor stopped trusting you over an accident on your part.”

Loki sighed. “I suppose that you’re right.” _Worse still if he guessed Loki’s intentions_ , he thought to himself.

.

Things were so awkward between him and Jarnsaxa. It was hard being intimate with someone you had cheated on, he supposed. He hoped and prayed that Jarnsaxa didn’t notice it.

_It wasn’t his fault, he reasoned. It was biology. Jarnsaxa really would forgive him if he came clean with it._

But he’d probably make him stop living with Loki, and Thor didn’t want that either. Loki was his brother, dammit. His _baby brother_!… that he had happened to fuck on two separate occasions. But again, that was just biology.

“My uncle wants to meet you. He was very displeased with what happened that night between you and By, and he wants to formally apologise.”

“Um, I’m not sure…” Thor began, trying to think of an excuse.

“Oh come on, Thor, please? We’ve been dating for like, four months now. I’ve already met your family, won’t you meet mine?”

“Okay, but why your uncle? Why not your parents?”

Jarnsaxa paused a moment. “My parents are divorced, Thor. They divorced because of me. See, my father was quite, uhm, quite the traditionalist. He believed that Omegas were female and that Alphas were male, so he didn’t take too kindly to my birth.” And yet you get along with _Laufey_? The man who literally killed his wife over that? “My uncle, my father’s brother that is, supported my mother and me. He’s always been there for me when I needed him, he’s the reason I got to come here in the first place. My mother’s not rich, see, there’s no way she could have afforded this on her own.”

Thor’s blood boiled with every word Jarnsaxa spoke. How could Laufey do this for a distant relative, and not for his own damned bloody son.

“Look at you getting all worked up.” Jarnsaxa smirked. “I didn’t know you cared about me so much.”

“Of course I love you.” Thor did, it’s just not where his mind particularly was at that moment.

“So you’ll meet him?”

“Yeah, sure, fine.” Now he _had_ to meet that bloody bastard. Now he _had_ to, because he needed to know how even a creature so fucked in the head as Laufey was could ever consider abandoning something as precious as Loki based on something as stupid as his secondary-sex.

.

Thor was nervous. He’d dressed up in a white suit and a pink tie to meet the child-abandoner and wife-killer known as Laufey Nalson.

The man was, who would have guessed, also in white but with a red tie.

“Ah, you must be Thor. My nephew has told me a lot about you.” Laufey greeted.

“And you, I.” Thor nodded, shaking the man's frigid, hard hand. Thor put as much force into it as possible, to show Laufey that he meant business. Evidently, Laufey had thought to do the same.

Jarnsaxa sat himself down. It was a round table, so they were all _technically_ next to each other. Thor had warned Loki before going out that if he wasn’t back by the next morning, Loki should call ‘999’ and say Laufey did it. He really hoped that Loki didn’t take it as a joke.

“I would like to take the opportunity to formally apologise for my son’s actions.” Laufey said, doing his best to sound sincere.

“No problem, we were all pretty drunk that night. So, you’re Jarnsaxa’s uncle, what do you do for a living?” Thor asked, before turning to the waiter and placing his order. As soon as the waiter left with everybody’s orders, Laufey answered.

“I’m a business owner. Jotunheimr Security Systems, we deal mostly in home security. What about your parents?”

“Let’s cut the formalities, sir, I know that you used to be friends with my father.” Thor smiled, doing his best to put Jarnsaxa at ease though he wanted to rip Laufey’s bloody head off. Every second in the presence of this Alpha was just downright torture.

“That we used to be. So I take it, then, that Odin’s still up to the old stuff? We almost went in together on a cartel, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Odin’s life started where he brought Thor home to live with him and married Frigga. End of story.

“Oh yes, your father and I used to get up to all sorts of things back in the day. We were pretty big knottheads.”

“Oh, sir, you can’t be all that bad. Jarnsaxa told me how you took him in after his father _abandoned him_ for being an _Omega male_.” He **_wanted_** Laufey to know he knew, but without saying it so as to leave a bit of ambiguity in their conversation. _Squirm, prick, squirm._

“Oh, Thor.” Jarnsaxa blushed, but neither Laufey nor Thor paid any mind to it. They were too engaged in their verbal battle.

“Ah yes, how could I not? Jarnsaxa was my kin, I had to right the wrongs of my idiot brother. I’ve never regretted it, Jarnsaxa is such a sweet and sensitive soul.” Thor had to grab at his own knees to keep himself from pouncing. _Fuck you! Fuck you!_ He wanted to scream. _Fuck you you motherfucking cunt!_ But where was the sense in it? At the end of the day, the farther away that Loki was from this asshat of a biological father he had, the better.

“That’s so kind of you. You know, my parents never said it outright, but I’m pretty sure that the reason my own little brother had been abandoned by his biological parents was because _he_ was born an Omega. It’s so retarded, isn’t it, how backwards people can be in this day and age?” He said this all while staring directly into Laufey’s fucking eyes. He glanced down, Laufey almost looked like he’d broken his fork.

“That is so sad to hear. It’s a pity how some people can be so stuck in the past. Your brother, tell me, what’s his name?”

“Loki. Loki _Odinson_.”

“Nice. And you two are… close?”

“Of course.”

“What’s his relationship like with your father?”

.

“Why do you care so much about Thor’s brother anyways?” Jarnsaxa asked his uncle on the way home from the restaurant. Thor and Laufey had spent the _entire evening_ talking about that mangy little brat rather than getting to know each other or talking about _Jarnsaxa_.

“Odin is using him to plot against me.”

“How so?”

“He’s a crafty little thing, ‘Saxa. He’s studying Neuro but he wants to work with computers, he’s particularly gifted with them.” Laufey lied. “He’s been hacking into my businesses.”

“That’s illegal! You must sue him! Have him arrested!”

“Not enough proof.” Laufey shook his head. “That’s why I need to get in close and find out.”

“It makes sense. He’s always been a shifty little bitch.” Jarnsaxa fumed. “Shifty, conniving little bitch. Don’t worry, uncle, I’ll help you on your quest.”

“Good boy.” He brought in his nephew, his brother’s failure, for a hug.

.

Loki sat with Leah at the top of Stark London, the Stark Family’s London tower. It was this huge shopping complex with a bunch of bars and restaurants all the way up to the twentieth floor. 

Because the floor they were on was a bar floor, there was of course a glass wall preventing them from jumping off or something absurdly stupid like that.

“Are you sure you want to be here? You can’t drink, and I don’t want to if you can’t.”

“I’m fine.” Norns did Loki miss alcohol, but he didn’t want to wind up in hospital again anytime soon. He’d decided on an alcohol-free grace period of two years. Surely that would be enough.

“Good to hear. We’re ordering virgins tonight.”

“Kinky.” Leah rolled her eyes at him.

He liked this, these moments with her. They were like a more mature, less risky version of the times they’d shared in the pass. For example, the bouncers here couldn’t kick him out for being underage. Nor could they call the police on them for, again, being underage.

“I’m gonna have the Shrimp, you?”

“Hmm, care to split? We could order a shrimp and a club pizza.”

“Alright. I’m gonna have a milkshake to drink, what do you want?”

“Milkshake too, I guess.” Since he couldn’t drink most things on the menu, and the words ‘virgin cocktail’ were just offensive to his eyes.

“I’ll go order.” She got up from the table.

Thor was supposed to be out with Jarnsaxa tonight. Not just Jarnsaxa though, Laufey as well. Loki remembered Thor’s parting words to him ‘If you can’t find me in the morning, dial 999 and tell them it was Laufey’. While said in a joking manner, they were actually rather chilling. He picked up his phone.

Loki: _Hey, Thor_

_Send me a voice memo if ur ok_

Loki put his phone away as Leah came back to the table, she was fuming a bit.

“Urgh. This Alpha tried to flirt with me, and when I told him you were my boyfriend he and his friends just laughed.” Leah said, frustrated.

“They’re called knotheads for a reason.”

“Not Thor, though. Your brother is different.”

“Surprised you’d jump to my brother’s defence over, say, someone like your sister?”

“Please don’t remind me.” Leah shook her head. “I’ve been trying to forget that we were even related. Her going to prison… that was good for me, I think. Now that she can’t contact me anymore, can’t sabotage me, it’s like I’m… like I’m finally free, you know?”

“What happened to your mother?”

“New boyfriend. She ran away with him to Hawaii, as far as she could get from us. I don’t blame her though.”

Loki wisely said nothing. He knew, of course, all of the rumours that had circulated about Hela and Leah’s mother, and while he sincerely hoped that none of them were true, he was scared of finding out. He’d been in that house before, he’d seen her before. The scary thing was that that neither confirmed nor dismantled any rumours that had floated around about her.

She was a tall woman, quite young, maybe about a decade or two younger than Surtur (that’s probably where all the ‘oh, she’s his daughter’ rumours had sprung from). Well, if she wasn’t young, then she certainly looked and acted it. She was quiet, shy, didn’t really make a lot of eye-contact. Distant, cold. Loki could remember three separate occasions at which she had smiled at him. He’d sensed nothing warm from it, just a wave of dread. She had black hair, where Leah and Hela had gotten it from, was tall, like her daughters, but she had blue eyes to Surtur’s green. She’d even hugged him once, that first time that Leah had brought him home, he’d hated every second of it. He’d never hated a hug before, like truly hated one, even with all the hugging his brother did, but that one was just… it made him shudder just to think of it.

“I know it’s probably for the best that you won’t see Hela again, at least until shegets out in…?”

“Three years, assuming no good behaviour leniencies.”

“Three years then. Uh, have you ever thought though, about visiting her?”

“Sometimes.” Leah admitted. “But it would be too emotionally taxing. She deserved it you know, she really did.”

“What’d she do anyways? I mean, assuming you’re fine telling me.”

“She stole a man’s car.”

“Wow, five years for that?”

“It was a second offence. And she’d assaulted him to get it, so there was that. She’d beaten him to near death…”

“Wow, only five years for that?”

Leah chuckled. “I love you so much, you always make me laugh when I’m down.”

“I love you too.” Loki leaned over the table and kissed her.

He heard some noise, then looked over to see that a group of four Alphas were surrounding their table.

“Dude, there’s no way she’s an Alpha, look at her.” Loki heard theblond one say.

“ _He’s_ definitely not, you can smell it. Must be a pair of Omegas.” One of the brunets- the stockier one- said.

“Oooh, two Omegas kissing.” The other brunet made a face.

“It’s kinda hot.” Said the black-haired one with an accent. He had a sharp nose that Loki thought just looked so damned breakable. “Kiss some more.”

“No, assholes.” Leah said, firmly, glaring at the three of them. Loki would never pick a fight with Leah, she was quite a bit stronger than she looked. And not just for an Omega, either. “Why don’t you go and fail at flirting with somebody else?”

The black-haired one slapped her. Loki shot right up out of his seat. “How dare you!?” He punched the man and wound up with his arm getting twisted by the blond.

“Hey, hey, take it easy you little bitch.” The blond warned. “My father owns this place.”

Loki tried to kick the man in the balls, the safety patch anyone fighting any biological male ever had, but the stocky brunet seemed to sense this and grabbed Loki’s left foot, pulling him slightly off of the ground.

The bouncers weren’t helping, cowards. But it seemed like the people standing around had had enough of this, because suddenly a group of big, burly Alphas growled and launched themselves at the four.

“Are you alright?” Asked a redhead in his thirties to Loki.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you so much.”

“Anytime.” He nodded. “I’m going to report these people to the police.” He whipped out his cellphone and called them. By then Loki and Leah had disappeared, not wanting to get caught up in any of this. Who could blame them, given how many bad run-ins they’d had with the police?

.

Loki entered the apartment wincing. His shoulder really hurt, felt like it was on fire, but he’d been in fights before. He knew it would heal.

Thor was back. Guess him and Jarnsaxa hadn’t shagged away their night after meeting with Laufey. Oh wait, that made sense, Jarnsaxa had probably gone home with his uncle. It would have been a little awkward to have gone home with Thor instead, he supposed.

“Loki? Where’ve you been?” Thor asked, just noticing that his brother hadn’t been home all night. Thor pulled a blanket around himself. Peculiar.

“Yeah, I was just out with Leah on a date.”

“Oh ni- is that a scratch on your face? What, did you guys get a little kinky?” Wow that felt weird hearing Thor say.

“No, we got into a fight-”

“You can’t just let her hit you! Loki that’s not right! OMG, it’s never right to hit your partner in a fight!”

“-with some homophobic Alphas, but thanks for your two cents.” Loki deadpanned.

“Oh my, Loki are you alright?” Thor got up off of the couch, blanket still around him, to analyse Loki a little better. 

“Yeah, yeah, Thor. I’m fine. How are you? You never answered my text.”

“Oh, right, I need to charge my phone."

"You never learn do you?” Loki rolled his eyes. The comment was meant as a joke, but Thor seemed hurt by it. Of course, sensitive topic matter. “Right, well, I’m just going to sleep. Goodnight, Thor!"

“Goodnight Lokista!”

Stupid Thor and those stupid nicknames of his.


	18. Can you fill it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get to re-use this chapter title later on cuz the lyrics are 'there's a hole, in my soul, can you fill it? Can you fill it?' and I've only used like three quarters of that line so far, 'mkay?
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Thor had no idea what he’d been worrying about. He’d brought Jarnsaxa home with him after a walk in the park and in no time at all they’d their clothes off and were doing the naked tango.

Thor thrust deep into Jarnsaxa a few more times and grunted as his knot popped in before filling the man with his seed.

“That was great.” Jarnsaxa panted, breathless from all of the fucking they’d just done.

“Tell me about it.” Thor grinned, pecking Jarnsaxa’s cheek and settling down next to him. They didn’t pull the covers on for a bit because they were both quite hot and sweaty from their rigorous activities just moments prior.

When Thor’s knot eventually deflated, Jarnsaxa wriggled free. “I’m going to go and take a shower. Come join me?”

“If I ever say no to that, stab me.”

.

Every Wednesday afternoon, due to Verity not having any classes after like 11 AM on Wednesday, Loki would go to this little coffee shop near UCL called ‘The Bistro’ and grab some grub there. It was usually not too busy at lunch on Wednesday as most students preferred to go to more mainstream, fast-food joints, and on Wednesdays most teachers preferred to eat in the cafeteria as a sort of ‘we’re all in this together’ kind of thing.

So Loki was rather surprised to hear the bell on the door ring, and was even more surprised when he saw a big, tall man in a business suit enter the building. The man gruffly ordered a coffee and wound up pausing by Loki’s table.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” He asked in a strange accent. Northern, Loki thought, but not like ‘northern’ as in ‘north of England’, more like ‘north-north’, like from a Nordic country or somewhere like that. Yeah, Loki might be Nordic, but he never really got the whole ‘act-like-the-country-you’re-‘from’ vs the act-like-the-country-you-were-raised-in’ kind of thing.

“Umm…” Wait, Loki _did_ recognise this man! Recognition flashed across Loki’s eyes and he blurted out. “Wait, you’re Laufey Nalson, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, indeed I am.”

“Oh, you’re the asshole whose son got into a fight with my brother.” 

Laufey’s lip twitched and settled on a downward curl. “Indeed. You must be Loki, Thor’s brother, I am sorry for my son’s actions that night.” The best part was that he meant _Loki_ ’s actions, and the little fucking brat couldn’t accuse him of anything or that would give away the fact that Loki _knew_ and then Odin’s whole game would be over.

“Tell that to Thor.”

“I did. I saw him the other night, with my nephew, Jarnsaxa.”

“Jarn… whaaat?” Suddenly it all made sense. Why Thor was there that night with Byleistr’s squad, why Thor had even been going out to meet Laufey in the first place. “Oh my… oh Thor is going to be in so much trouble.” He mumbled to himself. But he was pretty sure Laufey heard it anyways.

“Would you mind if I take a seat?” Laufey gestured to the one in front of Loki.

“Ummm.” Shit this was awkward. “Sure, I guess.”

“Good.” Laufey sat himself down. Urgh, he reeked of Alpha pheromones. He was probably one of those macho-macho ones. “So, how do you feel about this relationship then? My nephew dating your brother?”

“Um, alright I guess.” Shit, was Loki that obvious?

“Yes, well. You know, eventually they’re going to get married, and then we’ll all be a _family_.” He watched Loki’s reaction, waited for Loki to pounce on him with an ‘is that so, father?’ Or something to that effect.

“Right, right.” Loki felt queasy, sick. He did _not_ want Jarnsaxa in his family, or this man, or Byleistr. 

“Jarnsaxa has told me a lot about you.”

“All negative, I’d imagine.”

“And why would you say that?”

“We don’t get on.” The barista came by with Laufey’s drink.

“And why’s that?”

“Your nephew’s a prick, sir.”

“‘Sir’, awfully formal for an Odinson.”

“I like to think I’m mother’s favourite for it.” Loki smiled at him with all teeth. “I imagined you’d be here more to talk about Thor.”

“Thor? Why, I know all about him. I’m just curious to meet the rest of the family.”

“Well, you already know my parents.” Ah ha! So the brat _did_ know!

“Indeed I do.” Laufey finished his drink fast and stood up. “And you tell Odin, to his face, that whatever game he’s playing with you won’t work. You were legally disowned.” He left the store.

_What_?

.

“You look like you’ve had a rough day, what’s wrong, sport?” Thor plopped himself on the couch a good half a metre from Loki.

“Urgh, the weirdest thing just happened. I went to The Bistro, you know, that little cafe you took me to on my first day of varsity-”

“The one you go to every Wednesday for lunch because Verity’s not there, continue.”

“Right, anyways, so _Laufey_ walks in, and he’s all like ‘oh, I wanna know about you’ and he goes from like 0 to 100 real fast, and he ends it by practically screaming in my face about father and some ‘mind tricks’ or whatever, and then says I was ‘legally disowned’ and shit like that. It’s so weird, right? Thor? _Thoooor_?”

“Wha- oh, yeah, lmao, that does sound weird.” Thor acted as though he were laughing it off, while on the inside he was dying. Loki had met with Laufey in private? What if the man had tried to kill him or something!? That was a terrifying thought. 

“You think I should call father?”

“No. Laufey seems like he was off his rocker. Nothing he says seems to have made any sense. And don’t worry too much about him, alright. He’s going home in like three days anyways.”

“Good. I hate every member of that family.” 

_I don’t_ , thought Thor.

.

Thor got Laufey’s hotel number from Jarnsaxa, who seemed thrilled that Thor was making an effort to get to know his family. Jarnsaxa volunteered to come with, but Thor politely declined. He said he wanted to go as a gesture of good faith, and that he was scared that bringing Jarnsaxa along would seem too much like he was using the man as a defence barrier between Thor and Laufey.

Thor knocked on the door, Laufey unlocked it, and Thor entered. 

“Look.” Thor said firmly, commanding the room. “ _I_ know you’re Loki’s father. Both my parents do too. Loki does **_not_**. Stay away from him.”

Laufey sceptically raised a brow. “And how am I to know that this is not some ruse then, huh? How am I to know that you are not using my son against me?”

“Your- your **_son_**!” Thor barked out. “You don’t get to call him that! Not when you murdered his mother and threw him into an orphanage for being a male Omega, you misogynistic piece of crap! Loki **_has_** a family, a good one, stay away from him, it’s the kindest thing you’ve done for him your entire life!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, boy. My wife was murdered and my son stolen, clearly by Odin.”

“ ** _Liar_**! Don’t think I don’t see through your game! And besides, even if he were kidnapped, you clearly don’t want him. Oh yeah, don’t think he didn’t tell me about the whole ‘you’ve been legally disowned’ thing you pulled on him. We’re onto you- stay away from Loki! If I hear that you’ve had any more contact with him I **_will_** kill you!”

Laufey slapped Thor.

Oh that was it.

Thor gave Laufey an uppercut. Laufey punched Thor in the gut. Thor staggered back. He pounced on top of Laufey, 15 years of rugby finally coming in handy in the real world. He slammed his fist into Laufey’s face, Laufey kneed him in the balls and flipped them over, then Laufey was the one pummelling Thor’s face.

Thor bit Laufey. Laufey elbowed him in the gut. Thor flipped them over again and **_peed_** on Laufey as he continued to beat the shit out of him, slapping the man silly.

Honestly, with how primal they were getting, Thor was quite surprised that this whole fight didn’t end in rape. That’s how Alphas in the olden days would sometimes assert dominance over a defeated party when they stepped out of line.

Eventually, Laufey shoved Thor super hard at the door. “Get out, bitch.”

“Gladly, you homicidal whore.” Thor stood up and opened the door and left.

.

Loki just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Thor seemed right, about Laufey being crazy that was. But Loki felt uneasy, and decided to contact his father anyways.

“Father?” Loki called when Odin picked up.

“Yes, bane of my existence?” Odin joked. They did this sometimes, where they joked. It was cute except for when it was not. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Love you too. Anyways, I was out at The Bistro, you know-”

“The one that Thor took you to on your first day of university, the one you’ve been going to every Wednesday this year because Verity finishes early on a Wednesday, the one with the **_fantastic_** soup and fries thing which you love because they do these nice crispy fries that **_aren’t_** too hard, because you like your fries just a little soggy because you’re a little weirdo. That one?”

“Yes.” Norns, had he really talked about it that often? “Um, so I was there, and then **_Laufey_** walked in, and he asked to sit with me and I was like ‘sure’ and… uhm, hello? Father?”

“Yes, yes. No, I’m listening. What did that man want?” Odin didn’t sound pleased at all.

“He said he wanted to get to know me, which seemed odd but alright, right? I mean, he’s Jarnsaxa’s uncle.”

“ ** _What_**!?”

“I know, right? Anyways, so he starts off saying stuff that’s relatively normal, but he ends the conversation with something about you playing games with him, and me being disinherited- am I disinherited? Because **_I’m_** not the one sleeping with the enemy, just saying.” Loki kept his tone light to mask his confusion over Laufey’s whole spiel.

“Loki… there’s something I must tell you. You need to stay away from Laufey, whatever he’s plotting can’t be good. We’ll need to get you a bodyguard, I think.”

“What? _Why_?”

“Son…” Odin took a deep breath. “A long time ago, I was business partners with Laufey, you know this, of course.”

“Right, back when you were quite the philanderer-”

“Focus, son. Anyways, Laufey had this wife, Farbauti. She died shortly after giving birth to a son of his, a son who was born Omega. As you know, Laufey’s a misogynistic arsehole. Your mother, Frigga, was quite close to Farbauti, and she was determined to track down wherever Laufey had dumped the child-”

“And the child is me.” Loki concluded, a sudden feeling of dread settling in a deep pit of his stomach. “So, Laufey’s my biological father then?”

“Yes. Loki, you have to be careful… there’s not enough evidence but, uh, Frigga and I always had a strong suspicion that Laufey killed Farbauti.” Odin confessed. 

“Why are you-why are you telling me this now?”

“I wish I didn’t have to. I wish I could be there with you right now, but Loki this man is dangerous. You can’t go near him.”

“Lesson learned.” Loki could taste bile in his mouth. “Father, what do you mean that you have a strong suspicion he killed my mother? My biological mother, I mean.”

“Loki, you didn’t see him after your birth. Neither did I, for the matter, but Frigga did. She was terrified for Farbauti even before it happened.” He could hear Odin sigh on the other end. “I mean, even when Frigga told me about it, I didn’t think it was true. I couldn’t imagine him killing his wife, the mother of his children- because, of course, by then Farbauti had given birth to Byleistr and Helblindi as well- but when Frigga brought you home… well, it wasn’t rocket science.”

“So then why didn’t you go to the police then? Why didn’t you take me, use me as proof.”

Odin went quiet.

“Oh, he had dirt on you too, didn’t he?” Loki growled, tears streaming down his face. “Of bloody fucking course!”

“Son-”

“I’m not your son! Who else knows about this, then?”

Odin went quiet.

“ ** _Answer me_**!”

“Myself, Frigga, Heimdall-”

“And Thor, of bloody fucking course Thor!” Loki threw his head back against the couch in fury. “Because you always fucking tell him things and leave me out of the loop! Fuck you!” Loki screamed into the phone and flung it across the room at the wall. He hoped for Odin’s sake that the man had the common bloody-fucking sense to end the call.

So, he finally knew where he came from then. “Stupid old man!” Loki sniffed, rubbing his sleeve on his nose to collect the snot dripping out of it. “Fuck him, fuck **_them_**!”

He sat on the couch, his head pounding, and wrapped his blanket around himself. He couldn’t move, not really. He couldn’t bring himself to think much either. He just sat there stunned. Guess his homework could be handed in late.

Thor eventually arrived home, shortly after the buzzing in his head stopped. He didn’t turn his head, he was too drained to do anything of the sort. Thor did not look pleased.

“Hey, Loki. What’s the problem?” That made Loki turn his head around. Thor didn’t sound like Thor, he sounded… weird. Like a weird Thor, if that made any sense.

Loki’s eyes widened as he took in the bedraggled state of his elder brother. Thor’s entire left side of his face was swollen, including his eye. His lip was busted… he kind of smelled of piss too, but that was probably just some poor alcohol or something. He was limping, his clothes were torn.

“Who ran you over?” Loki asked, attempting at humour and feeling awful for it as Thor took a seat next to him.

“Ha, ha. Ever the trickster, I see. Nobody ran me over, I went over to see Laufey and have a few words with him.” From the looks of it, Thor was still a little high from the fight. “Brother, what’s wrong? Why have you thrown the phone at the wall.”

“You knew. You knew and you didn’t tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“That Laufey was my father.” Thor’s heart skipped a total of four beats.

“I’m sorry.” Thor didn’t even try to hide it. “He’s dangerous and I really thought it was for the best you didn’t know because-”

“Because he killed my mother?”

“Did father tell you that as well?”

“Yes.” Loki hiccuped. “Oh, Thor. This is so messed up.”

“I know, I know.” He pulled his brother into a hug. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I mean, it’s been true your entire life, so it doesn’t change anything, right?”

Loki shook his head, and it might have just been Thor’s elevated hormone level talking, but damned did Loki look gorgeous with those dewy droplets hanging off of his eyelashes, his cheeks flushed with heat. Loki was always gorgeous, crying was no exception.

“Thor… I’m scared. What if the reason he’s back now is to kill me?” Loki’s voice was barely more than a whisper.

“He won’t. He won’t kill you. I won’t let that happen.” Thor murmured into his hair, his arms holding onto his brother close.

Loki squirmed, pulling back a bit so he could look up at Thor’s face. “How can you say that? You’ve no idea what he’s capable of.”

Thor leaned into him. “Doesn’t matter, I won’t let it happen. I just went in there to tell him I’d kill him and his entire family if he so much as laid a finger on you.”

“Wow, thanks.” Loki laughed a little.

“No problem.” Thor ran his hand down Loki’s arm.

No idea who started it  ~~that’s a lie~~ but suddenly Thor had Loki lying back against the couch, running his hands up and down his flanks, and he was hovering over him, kissing him tenderly.

_It didn’t even occur to Loki, in that beautiful, heated moment, where he was too scared of it ending to even move a muscle, that this meant that Jarnsaxa was related to him. And it shouldn’t have either, because Loki deserved_ **_one_ ** _happy moment that day._


	19. Smarter than he looks, eh?

Thor touched his tongue experimentally. It felt weird. This all felt so wrong.

Last night, he had been injured, he had been on a high, Loki had been sad, and Thor’s God-damned-Hero-complex had fuelled a moment that resulted in him kissing Loki.

Thankfully that was where it had ended. Thor had snapped out of it, gotten up and off the couch, and slammed the door to his room shut.

He’d had a boner, but had wound up opting for a cold shower instead of a good, hard wank. He felt a bit weak ( _probably on account of all the bleeding he’d done_ ) and poured himself a nice, big glass of water from the bathroom tap, before munching on some candy and Doritos before falling asleep.

And that was how he’d woken up: grateful to not be dead, and in quite a bit of pain. Nobody had watched him through the night. With his wounds, he really, **_really_** ought to be grateful that he wasn’t dead.

.

So why didn’t he **_feel_** grateful for it?

He staggered into work the next morning, and in the afternoon, Jarnsaxa was in.

His boyfriend gasped. “Thor! What happened to you?”

“Got jumped on 3rd.”

“Oh, my poor baby.” Jarnsaxa gushed, making himself a seat in Thor’s lap. Thor flinched and Jarnsaxa took it as a sign that Thor was probably in a lot of pain, because clearly the swelling of Thor’s face (which had only just slightly gone down) hadn’t been enough of an indicator not to touch Thor. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.” Thor said, flatly.

Jarnsaxa nodded, leaving the room rather miffed.

.

And yet even after Thor healed, things were awkward around the pair.

“Loki, I can’t do this anymore, we need to talk!” Thor called for his brother after a particularly disastrous date. Jarnsaxa had kissed him and Thor had tried to reciprocate, but it had wound up being even sloppier and weirder than Thor’s first kiss ever (that was with Sif, FYI).

“Talk about what, brother?” Loki came out of his room, a towel wrapped around his hair, and his shirt slightly damp. Must have just taken a shower.

“About what happened two weeks ago, remember? When we were on the couch and-”

“You kissed me. Nothing to talk about there, Thor.”

“Yeah, but that kiss wasn’t the only time, now was it? What about that heat whe-“

“Where we _agreed_ to never talk about it again.” Loki switched for him, firmly. “Thor, what is the sense in what you are saying?”

“Does it not bother you at all then, huh, brother? That we have twice cheated on our partners?”

“No, because whatever _this_ is, this thing between us? It is impractical.” The words scorched Loki’s tongue to say, but they needed to be said. He’d spent his entire life mooning over his brother, to be quite honest Loki wasn’t entirely sure that he could resist if Thor were to come to him now and demand to take him on the couch. But he had seen Thor’s reaction, each and every time that they had done something. It was killing him, and Loki didn’t want to be Thor’s only because biology dictated it so, not when he was Loki’s for so much more than just that. “What would we do, huh? Tell our partners, break up with them, have to find new partners, have to break up with _them_? Thor, just leave it be. It is okay, truly. You’re an Alpha, you’re allowed to fuck more than one Omega by nature’s laws.”

“And you and Leah?”

Loki smiled insincerely at his brother, as though there was some big sad, horrid joke he was hiding. “I’m allowed to cheat, Thor. I’ve always been the bad guy, remember?”

“Loki-”

“No ‘Loki’ying me, Thor. That’s the end of it. If it meant something to you, then fine, let it be that way. But as far as I’m concerned, what happened that night was the result of both of us being in a negative space of mind, and it shouldn’t count.”

.

“You look so pretty in your corset!” Leah gushed at seeing Loki in a light pink one with white panties.

“Thanks. Help me tie it up?”

“Sure, how tight?”

“Pretty tight. The thing barely fits anymore.” Not since he’d lost a pound after sex with Thor during his heat.

Leah yanked on the ropes. “Tight enough?”

Loki nodded, feeling his chest compressed was oddly soothing. “Yeah, thanks sweetheart.”

“Anytime for my pretty little girl.” Leah winked, kissing his neck and running her hands down the corset. “Now come on, we’re going to be late to Mason’s party.”

“Of course, dear.” He gave her a kiss on her cheek.

.

Thor decided to try out Loki’s cavalier attitude and act like nothing had happened between him and Loki while out on his date with Jarnsaxa.

He took Jarnsaxa out to a nice Italian place for dinner. They both ordered the pasta and waited for their meals. Jarnsaxa’s smile was so beautiful and radiant, Jarnsaxa sneakily lifted his foot up to rub at Thor’s dick. Thor nearly yelped, but managed to contain himself.

This cavalier thing wasn’t working. He felt a grim, heavy weight settle in his chest. This wasn’t right.

“Thor, you okay?” Jarnsaxa asked, seeming to notice Thor’s off mood.

“Yeah, of course.”

.

Their relationship ended two weeks later, after Thor had been unable to bring himself to perform in the bedroom for a good solid week out of sheer guilt.

“Thor, what’s going on here?” Jarnsaxa said finally, fumbling for his clothes.

“I don’t know.” Thor shook his head. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Well, evidently not.”

“No, ‘Saxa, I mean this relationship.”

“What do you mean, Thor?” Jarnsaxa asked, as though there were any other meaning for Thor’s words than the most obvious one.

“‘Saxa… I think we need to break up.” Thor said, seriously.

“What, why?” Jarnsaxa was blinking back tears. God, this was so much easier when Jane was breaking up with him.

“‘Saxa, I just… I’m not feeling it, anymore? You know? I just, I don’t think what we have is practical, I don’t think it’s going to last-”

“We are the masters of our own fates, Thor. So if you’re telling me ‘it’s not going to work’ then it’s because **_you_** don’t want it to!” Jarnsaxa growled. “So tell me what it is then, Thor, huh? What is it? Is it my hair, do you not like my hair anymore? Is it the way I dress, that we work at the same office, the way I cook? What? What could you **_possibly_** not like about me, huh? _Tell me!_ ”

Thor shook his head. “‘Saxa, you’re perfect!”

“Then why would you end it!?” He screamed at Thor so loud that Thor was certain people on the **_bottom_** floor could hear it. “Why, Thor, **_why_**!?” He sobbed. “Why are you doing this to me!?”

Time to rip off the bandaid. “‘Saxa, it’s not you, it’s me.”

“Bullshit.”

“I, uh, kissed someone… and slept with them,” Thor said, all quiet like. Jarnsaxa went still.

“You **_pig_**!” He suddenly screamed, lunging and trying to scratch at Thor’s face. Thor caught his hands. “Let go of me, you bastard! You filthy, fucking bastard! You bloody twat! You fucking cunt!” Instead of foolishly letting go, however, Thor simply manoeuvred the man out of his apartment building, walking into walls and cupboards and shelves in the process. He closed the door quickly. Jarnsaxa hadn’t brought anything over with him. That was good, that made it easier then. Tears ran down Thor’s face. It had to be done. It had to.

.

“Well, someone’s a Glum Glenda, what’s got you all up in a strop then?” A familiar voice that Thor didn’t especially want to hear at that moment rang through the apartment.

“‘Saxa and I broke up.” Thor answered.

“Oh, Thor.” His brother plopped onto the couch next to him. “I’m sorry to hear that. He was always such a bitch-”

“Shut your mouth, Loki.” Thor warned, frustrated. “I broke up with him.” He sighed, head in his hands, leaning over the edge of the couch.

“Thor, why would you do such a thing?” Loki asked, his heart racing. He already knew why. Of course he already knew why.

“I couldn’t keep lying to him, I couldn’t cheat him like that, Loki. Not all of us can be so wicked and twisted as you.” And even though he knew that Thor was in a place of great emotional pain right now, it still stung to hear those words leave his brother’s mouth. Thor went quiet for a while. “How? How do you do it? How can you touch Leah, love Leah, through all of this? Knowing that you’ve cheated on her?”

“As you’ve already pointed out, Thor, I’m twisted.”

Thor shook his head. “No. Cut the bull crap, Loki. I’ve seen you around her, there’s something in that dynamic there. Even you would not be ballsy enough to risk screwing it up. Not unless you knew there was no risk. So tell me, brother, why **_you_** get to cheat on Leah, and yet I am burdened with a conscience when it comes to Jarnsaxa?”

“We’re open.”

“Bull. She holds you in her eyes like you’re the moon in the night skies, she’d never willingly let you go around sleeping with other people.”

“Well, she prefers to be in the room when that happens.” Thor did not appear in the mood for jests, so Loki sighed. “That last time we broke up, yeah? She cheated on me, with our best friend. So if she had anything against me cheating on her, I’d have ample ammunition to fire back.”

That really was twisted. Thor shook his head. “That’s not right, to use past history in a relationship to justify future misdeeds.”

“Well, neither is boning your brother, so let us pray she never finds out about it. But either way, it keeps my conscience clean.” Thor nodded in understanding, his fists clenching and unclenching. He was agitated, Loki could tell. Loki couldn’t blame him. As far as Loki was concerned, Jarnsaxa could rot in hell, but Thor had clearly cared more for Jarnsaxa than Loki ever had. “There, there, brother, cheer up. It wont be long until you’ve found your next conquest.”

“Leave me be, Loki.”

Loki complied wordlessly, sensing Thor’s stormy mood.

It rained that night, absolutely torrential rains, and winds you could hear racing through at like 20 mph. Loki watched from his room, with the lights off and the curtains open. The light of the moon and the night sky was all he had to illuminate what fell to either side of him. Before him were the city lights of London, coloured yellow and orange and red and pink and blue and white and **_gold_**. Loki watched them wink at him, as raindrops pattered away at the ceiling-high glass. He didn’t have a balcony, but he did have one **_nice_** view. His blanket was half off of him, it was a bit humid for early February in honesty.

Loki had always appreciated a good storm. There was an art to storms, he thought, and how nice it was indeed to be safely indoors while a great force of nature ravaged the outside world. There were no trees around, pity, he would have loved to watch their leaves blow in the wind.

That night, as Loki fell asleep to the sounds of rain falling and wind blowing, all that he could lament about the day was that the wind hadn’t been a gale. He would have loved to walk the cold the next morning.

_._

The next morning Thor went to work. He felt eyes on him the entire time. People had no doubt heard about him cheating on Jarnsaxa, and no doubt they were pissed about it. Thor couldn’t blame them, he was angry at himself.

Branson, one of Jarnsaxa’s supervisors at work, confronted Thor about it. “What the hell, man? How could you just go and cheat on him like that?”

“I have no idea.” Thor said, monotone.

“Are you trying to be funny with me?” He snapped at Thor.

“No. I just. I have no idea.” Thor shook his head. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s not me you should be apologising to.” The man stormed off in a fury.

.

“What do you mean I can’t go over there? I’ll _kill him_!” Byleistr fumed.

“That is **_enough_** , Byleistr. If you go over there and start **_another_** fight, then the police over there will most definitely **_not_** be as lenient as they were the last time. Do you know how many Rolexes I had to slip them to let you go without it leaking to the press, huh?”

“That bloody Odinson had no right to even **_be_** with Jarnsaxa, let alone **_cheat_** on him! Who does he think he is!?”

“A clever man playing a long game. They’re all like that, the Odinsons.”

“So what should we do then? Should we kill them?”

“No, son. I’m sure that given enough time they’ll wind up doing it to themselves.”

.

Jarnsaxa stewed in his studio apartment.

Thor had **_cheated on him_** … urgh, this was so infuriating! He wanted to scream! This was just-this was just so out of character for Thor, for crying out loud! He’d thought that Thor was one of the good Alphas, damn it!

At the end of the day, he supposed, all Alphas were knotheads.

Knotheads.

_Knotheads_ … it was out of character for Thor, wasn’t it?

It had to have happened sometime before their intimacy waned… Loki and Thor had both been absent from work/school at around the same time…

_Of course_. Jarnsaxa was suddenly filled with a whole new type of fury. _Of fucking course!_ Jarnsaxa had sensed it from the start that there was something fucking wrong with Thor and Loki’s relationship (he had **_never_** even liked Loki to begin with, and Jarnsaxa had always been a fantastic judge of character).

He wrinkled his nose. That disgusting little slut was the reason that Jarnsaxa had lost the best boyfriend he had _ever had_!

Loki was going to pay.

**_Loki was going to motherfucking pay_**!


	20. Out

Aaaand adding to the list of kinky shit they did, Leah had dressed Loki up as a girl and taken him out to a restaurant.

“Come on, it’ll be fun, getting to role-play for a day,” she winked at him. And oh, how was he supposed to say no to that face?

So there he was, in his corset (which had become a staple in his life by now- how was he supposed to live without it!?), wearing a dress over it with jewellery and some makeup. He had to admit, when he’d looked at himself in the mirror, he’d thought he’d looked quite fetching. Probably could have passed off as Leah’s sister or something. His hair now was definitely longer, it had been a while since he’d cut it. He liked it long, he thought he’d keep it like this.

Though he had to admit that tucking was a bit weird. Leah had done it for him, with an article on Wikihow open. She’d pushed his testes back into their sockets which just felt plain weird, and then she’d proceeded to cover up his penis with gauze and push it back over his cunt, where she then taped the damned thing down (bit hard to do with a wet cunt, but she'd managed). Even now it felt weird walking this way. He remembered screaming a little when she’d pushed his penis back.

Leah lifted up her menu and stopped on the sashimi rolls. She ordered that and Loki ordered a chicken stir fry. They both got lemonade with their food.

“Mmm, you’re so pretty like this.” Leah purred. “I want to do all sorts of nasty things to you.” Her voice made Loki’s cock twitch in its bindings.

“Be my guest.” He shrugged, as though her words had had no effect on him. Oh, it hurt to move forward. This tucking thing sure was annoying. He wasn’t sure it would even hold, useless contraption, truthfully.

“Mmmm, after this we’re gonna do something fun.” She winked.

What could be more fun than this?

.

Jarnsaxa stocked up on printer paper. This was glorious, this would teach that no good mutt and his golden brother not to mess with Jarnsaxa’s heart.

.

Leah led Loki into a pub. Odd place to be at only 2pm, not that he minded. There were a bunch of seedy looking men and women in this pub, odd for Leah to pick it. “What are we doing here?” He asked, eyes widening as Leah lifted up Loki’s skirt, winked at the patrons of the pub, and proceeded to shove him into the **_Alpha_** stalls.

“That!” Leah pointed at the hole in the wall of the stall she’d shoved him into. His heart pounded in his chest. Was Leah suggesting what he thought she was?

“A _gloryhole_!?” He hissed. And here he thought she’d wanted them to remain monogamous. 

“I mean, if you don’t want to, then no. But I thought it could be fun.”

He paused to think about it. “Let’s do it.” He said, because why the fuck not? And no sooner had he uttered those words than a chubby little weiner had inserted itself through the hole. 

_OMG,_ Loki had no idea what to do with it. He’d had dick before, but never like this. Leah gestured at him to take it in his hands. He did so, and the man (from the sound of his voice) on the other side started to thrust into his hand. He panicked and dropped the penis.

“Don’t be shy.” Leah whispered to him, taking the penis in her own hands and massaging it up and down. The man began to thrust faster, cumming in her hands. Must be a beta because no knot had formed. “Now your turn.”

Gulping, he nodded. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be shy to try new experiences, but Leah always steered him right, always kept him safe.

Loki took the next dick in his hands. “Good boy,” Leah smiled, running her hand through his hair. “Or should I say good _girl_.” Was that tuck still in place? It really oughtn’t be. “Now take it in your mouth and _suck_.” She ordered, once he had a nice rhythm going on the dick. “Good little slut.”

She slid down behind him and pulled his panties down, untucking him. She took his cock in her hands and begun to stroke it. “I wish I had a dildo with me to fuck you with, but my fingers are going to have to do.” She used her right hand to finger his vagina while her left hand stroked him. She leaned against him for support, forcing him forwards and further onto the dick. Eventually the man came down his throat and left.

The next person was a woman, Loki could smell her perfume. An alpha female, that meant there’d be knotting here. He licked up and down the tip of her head sensuously before swallowing down the whole dick (5.5 inches, not bad) in one big, wet slurp. The woman clearly would have tried to push in further had there not been a barrier between them.

After a bit more thrusting, her knot formed and she came over his face before withdrawing (the hole had been intentionally made so that someone could remove their knot- it was about 4 inches in diameter, you’d have to have one big dick for it to get stuck in there (Thor)).

The next person to come in was a male. Loki could smell from his musk that this was an Alpha in pre-rut, sometime within the next day he’d wind up going into rut. He had a big dick, there was no denying it. A little saggy and grey, but seven inches long and two wide. Nice. 

As Loki popped the head in his mouth, sucking on the foreskin, Leah dropped down and laid down under Loki, so that he was sitting on her face. He yelped around the dick, making it harder as his girlfriend proceeded to assault his cunt with her tongue, her nose rubbing at the gap between his balls, where his vagina started.

Leah pushed her tongue in, pulsing it in and out in a pseudo-fucking motion. Loki ran his mouth up and down the length of the cock, licking under, over and around it. He went back and took it into his throat, managing to slip a good four inches in. He relaxed his muscles, preparing himself to take another inch. The man’s knot started to form. Loki tried to get the dick out of his mouth in time, it could be a fair bit uncomfortable having to deal with a knot in your mouth, especially having to then _remove_ it from your mouth. There had only been four occasions it had happened to him, and it had always ended with an achy jaw.

He wasn’t fast enough, and he grimaced as the man came down his throat, his own thighs clamping down around Leah as he orgasmed over her face.

Leah got up and pulled the skirt of Loki’s dress down. Loki had to wait five minutes before he finally managed to widen his mouth enough to get the knot out. Once the knot was in the open air, it would start to deflate a little quicker. From the looks of it though, the man on the other side probably wouldn’t be able to move for another five minutes (The knot was maybe five inches right now, quite a big thing).

Leah pulled Loki up and gave him a sloppy kiss. His hands wandered over her breasts for comfort. They were very comforting, those titties.

She took him outside and there were a bunch of people in the bathroom. “Sorry, fellas, he’s done for the day.”

“What a shame.” An older man said, and Loki could tell that he meant it. Loki felt bad for him, and it seemed Leah did too.

“Fine.” She sighed, walking over to the waiting area (there were seats in this bathroom, how thoughtful. She dragged Loki onto her lap and pulled down the top of his dress and off his dress, leaving him on full display save for the corset around his midsection (male corsets didn’t often have breast-coverage as only male Omegas (and, of course, trans women) ever got breasts and Loki hadn’t managed to find a specialist Omega store yet). “He’s too tired to blow you, but I’m sure he’d be fine with you touching him.” This they actually **_had_** done before, but at a party, with people who Leah had known (friends of Hela’s, apparently, whatever the case this version seemed much more legal).

And touch him they did. Loki moaned at the sensation of having all of these people run their hands all over him. Run their hands over his cunt, fondle his balls, play with his cock like it was a toy, suck on his nipples, kiss him. It was magic.

Eventually, at about 4pm, they did retire. Leah bade the people farewell and put Loki in a dress. A man approached them. “Would you let me fuck him for eighty quid?”

“I’m afraid he’s off limits, but thank you for the offer.” Leah smiled at the man and he left. 

“Why did you say that, he could have attacked us?”

“You’d be surprised how understanding of consent the patrons of this pub are.”

“Do you frequent here, then?”

“Used to, before I found you.” She admitted.

“Nice crowd.”

“Aren’t they?” She smiled, giving him a peck on the lips.

“I owe you an orgasm,” he said, trailing his hands over the cloth that hid her breasts from him.

“You owe me nothing.”

“I insist. As soon as I wash the filth off my tongue though, don’t want to be a vector.”

“Alright then.” She kissed him. “How about tomorrow? I take you out to the park and afterwards we can go back to my place and you can have _your_ wicked way with _me_ …” she trailed a hand up his chest.

“I’d love that.”

.

Work had become less hostile for Thor, sort of.

It still hurt, a lot, having to see Jarnsaxa everyday. He knew he’d done the right thing, it just felt like the wrong thing. Jarnsaxa was such a nice person, he deserved better, Thor knew he did.

It hurt even more not three days later to see that ‘Saxa had moved on with Thomas Graham from IT.

.

Loki smiled as the morning sun hit him (he liked to sleep with the curtains open just so he could wake up like this).

It was a pretty sunny day for late February, but he wasn’t complaining. He munched on his hearty breakfast of one egg and a glass of milk. 

He walked to school happily. He entered the building and immediately noticed everyone’s eyes on him.

Weird, but okay… he made his way over to his biology lecture hall when he heard some people sniggering. And that’s when he heard it. 

_‘Ghlin_ ’ he heard one of them say. **_Ghlin_**. Sweat poured down his back. That was an old derogatory word used for… for Omegas who slept with each other. 

**_How did they know!?_ **

And that’s when he **_saw_** it:

A black and white picture on the door to his hall with him and Leah making out (the day of the football match) and arrows pointing at both of them that read ‘Omega’ and ‘Omega’. He almost vomited at the symbol drawn on (by hand, this must be post-print) at the bottom. A circle within which there was something that looked like a W but with the middle bit slightly smaller. Loki was no idiot, he knew that symbol, that was the AOOK’s symbol.

He quickly went into the bathroom and dialled Leah. “Loki! Thank God you called, something crazy just happened!”

“Did they call you a ‘ghlin’ too!?”

“How did you know? OMG, did it happen at UCL too!?” She asked.

“Yeah! I saw this posted with us on it and it said-”

“Omega, Omega.” Leah groaned. “Oh, this is such a mess! Who could have done this, who could have known!? Loki?”

Loki’d gone stiff. “You don’t-you don’t think those guys, from that night at the Bar…”

Leah went quiet. “No, they couldn’t have known where we went to school.”

“Unless they were members of AOOK and stalked us.”

“They wouldn’t have faced assault charges or done jail time if we hadn’t stuck around, and we didn’t. Oh no, this is so bad!”

“Leah, Leah, stay calm, okay? We’ll wait until the end of the day, we’ll see where this goes.” Loki pinched his nose and took a deep breath. “Fuck, ok. There’s an AOOK symbol on one of the posters at my school, any at yours?”

“None so far.” He couldn’t see it, but she could tell she’d shaken her head. She always did that cute thing when she said no to something and also shook her head.

“Good, good.”

.

All of his friends flanked the fuck out of him that day. Not just the whole David and Peter walking beside him, no, more like: David, Peter, Verity, Cassie, Kate and Noh-Varr walking around him in a circle with him at the centre.

Instead of him and Verity at lunch, it was _all_ of them.

“How could this have happened? How could this have happened?” Verity kept mumbling to herself, chewing on her hair. Kate was trying to comfort her.

David patted Loki on the back. “Don’t worry, idiot, we’re going to keep you safe.”

.

Everyone got an email that afternoon about how UCL was welcoming and inclusive school, and that when whoever put the flyers up got caught they’d be expelled. There was also something about tolerance and bullying and acceptance and noting how times had changed and _yadda yadda yadda._

Verity had walked Loki home the full way to avoid any unwanted advances from smug, misogynistic people. Leah and Loki had already communicated that it might not be best to go to the park tonight after all.

“Hey, Loki.” Thor greeted, getting back from work. “How was your day?”

“Not good.” Upon inspection of his brother, Thor could quite clearly see that that was the case. 

“What happened.”

“This.” Loki shoved to him the poster that had been on his lecture hall (he’d taken it down- his friends had managed to get rid of the rest of them).

“What…?” Thor gaped at the offending sight of Loki making out with Leah. Then he realised what else was on the paper and paled. “Oh no. Do you know who-”

“We think it was those guys that got us at the bar, they’re the only ones we could think of. Thor- _Thor_? What are you thinking.”

Thor shook his head angrily, eyes ablaze with anger. “I’m thinking a certain smug, Alpha bastard wants you dead and that he’s staging this so it’ll come off as a hate crime.”

“Smug Alpha- _what_?”

“You don’t think it’s a bit convenient, Loki, that your father comes here, and then not two week after he leaves **_this_** shit happens!?” Thor got up and grabbed his coat.

“Thor, where are you going!?”

“To Iceland!”

“Wait- no-”

“No, Loki!” Thor roared at his brother where he touched his shoulder. “I _warned him_! _I told him what would happen if he laid a finger on you_!” Thor was far gone, Loki knew. In some ways, he understood how some might chalk this up to Thor being an Alpha. But Loki knew better, no. This was more than Alpha rage, this was a _berserker’s rage_ , like those he’d read off as a child.

Before he had a moment to muster his thoughts, Thor was gone, and it was just him standing there in his apartment.

He sucked in a breath of air. Well, time to get some security in this apartment then. It wouldn’t do to have an AOOKer in his apartment that night, smuggling him away to some Omega Training Camp.

It bothered him, it really did, that AOOK wasn’t more severely prosecuted in this country. It didn’t surprise him, several ministers had said words in support of them over the years, but it did bother him.

AOOK, or All Omegas On Knees, was an anti-OmegaxOmega (and in a lot of cases also anti-OmegaxBeta) right wing traditionalist group, who believed that Omegas were subservient to the rest of the secondary genders. Naturally then, they were against same-secondary-sex couples (except BetaxBeta).

They were known for kidnapping ‘unruly’ Omegas and sending them to ‘Remedial Camps’ (Any camp that started with ‘remedy’ or ‘cure’ or ‘right’ was pure trash in Loki’s books), usually located up north, near Scotland in the countryside, far away from prying eyes.

He should call his parents… but he hadn’t spoken to Odin since that night, and Frigga had been silent and cold towards him since finding out about Leah being back in his life, he didn’t doubt that her advice would be to dump Leah and date a tall, handsome **_Alpha_** instead, or some shit like that.

But if he didn’t talk to them now, he might never talk to them again. Hesitantly, he dialled the house number from his and Thor’s landline.

It rang for a half a minute before somebody finally picked up. “Hello?” Frigga’s voice came through. 

“Mother.” Loki breathed a sigh of relief.

“Loki, it’s nice to hear from you.” He could feel his mother’s smile across the phone.

“Nice to hear from you too. Uhm, so people found out about me and Leah.”

“And?” She sounded annoyed.

“And she’s an Omega, and they found out I’m an Omega, and that we’ve been having an Omega x Omega relationship.” Dead silence.

“Your father and I will be right over. Stay safe, stay indoors, lock all the doors. Is your brother with you?” His mother sounded worried.

“No, Thor’s, uhm, he’s gone to Iceland.”

“What!? **_WHY!?”_**

“I don’t know, he wasn’t making a lot of sense! He said something about ‘I told him’ and Laufey, I think he’s probably going to meet with him.”

“Alright, son. We’ll be there by tonight.”

.

Frigga pinched the bridge of her nose. This was all such a mess.

Game time, Frigga, you got this. She picked up the phone and dialled a number.

“Heimdall.” She said. “You need to go to Iceland, you need to go to Reyjkavik, you need to intercept Thor on his route to Laufey.”

“Aye ma’am.” He hung up.

“Husband!”

“Yes, wife?” Odin called from the other end of the house.

“We must go to London! Loki’s been outed to AOOK!"


	21. Enter: Blindi and By

Within six hours Thor had managed to find a flight, board it, and arrive in Reykjavik. “Taxi!” He called at a car that was driving up with the word ‘taxi’ on its hood. So convenient that they did things here just like London and the rest of the world.

Then of course he sat down in the car and realised that it had been a little too convenient when the doors snapped shut and he heard _Heimdall’s_ voice. “So, this is how the Little Prince chooses to spend his Thursday afternoon?”

“Bog off, Heimdall.” Thor hissed. “I have a job to do."

“Oh? And might I ask who commissioned it?”

“ _Me_ , okay, **_I_** commissioned it."

“Your mother told me what happened.”

“So how are you so calm in all of this!? I know that you and Loki have never seen eyes to eye-”

“Understatement of the year."

"-but surely you agree with me that Laufey must pay for his treachery."

“If it is Laufey indeed, then yes. But for now that is still unclear, Thor."

“Bull! This happened just two weeks after he left!”

“Thor, there are other possibilities. I looked into your brother’s assumption that it was those men who tried to attack him and Leah at the bar. Did you know that one of them goes to UCL? Or that another one goes to Imperial? Laufey would have needed access to both universities, you know? What’s more likely, that he tried to sabotage the son he _doesn’t want_ ’s life, or that two men who each had to pay a £90 fine decided to take it upon themselves to exact their revenge?”

Thor growled. “Who are these ‘men’?”

“I am not in a position to tell you.”

“ _Bull-”_

_“_ ** _Thor!_** Your parents swore me to secrecy!” Heimdall raised his voice at him. “They’re handling this, just trust them!”

“Why should I!? I trusted them with Loki’s safety-”

“Which **_you_** blew! Laufey wouldn’t have ever known his son was even still alive had you not been dating Jarnsaxa!” Heimdall said, finally addressing the elephant in the room.

Thor went quiet. “Well I wouldn’t have dated him if I’d known that this would happen.”

“Of course, Thor, nobody’s blaming you here. But don’t go and make a mess of this. There’s a delicate balance here, where Loki’s safe from Laufey and you’re not going to take that away from him by punching Helblindi or Byleistr or something silly like that.”

Thor nodded. “Alright, friend. I will heed your words."

“Good.”

“There are no more flights today though. We’ll have to go tomorrow.”

“That’s already sorted, I’ve booked us two tickets home.”

.

“Oh, my baby!” Frigga enveloped Loki in a hug. No, she did not find it the **_least_** ironic that **_every fucking time that girl was in Loki’s life dangerous shit happened!_** Seriously, how stupid was this son she raised?

“Mother.” He sighed into her neck, hugging her back. No, this was not the time to mention his idiocy. 

It had been fine that first time that Leah and Loki had dated, because everyone had thought them Betas (Loki naturally didn’t give off too much of an Omega smell, she assumed. She wouldn’t know, she herself was a Beta, they couldn’t pick up Omega or Alpha smells).

“Son.” Odin nodded shallowly from the door. He wasn’t so certain that Loki had truly forgiven him yet.

“Father.” Loki nodded back. He really could have been a lot less harsh about finding out that **_Laufey_** was his mysterious father Odin and Frigga had claimed to never know about. There would be time for apologies later, he reasoned, welcoming them in with their luggage.

“Do you know when Thor will be home? He hasn’t answered any of my calls?” Loki asked his parents.

“Oh, you know Thor and his cell service.” Frigga rolled her eyes. It was a unanimous verdict in their house that Thor had an inferior service provider, and that he ought to switch over to the family one, but Thor was adamantly against it, proclaiming his undying loyalty to Verron <I hope that’s made up> over Mackkdon <I hope that’s also made up>. “I checked in with Heimdall, he said they’re fine. That they checked into a hotel and they’ll be flying back tomorrow at midday.”

“Oh, good.” Loki breathed a sigh of relief.

“And we’ve hired you a bodyguard. Her name is Brunnhilde. She’ll be here by morning.” Odin added.

“Is she any good?”

“The best of the best. She’s an Alpha, she’s a ruthless woman, but with good morals. I think you’ll like her, her father was my bodyguard for a few years back when I was running around with… never mind.” **_Laufey_**.

“You don’t think that Thor’s right? About Laufey, I mean.”

“Son, there is a very real possibility that Thor _is_ right about Laufey. But even so, what good would confronting him do? Outing is, unfortunately, not a crime. Murder is. All we can do here, realistically, is deal with the aftermath and hope that it all dies down eventually.” Odin shook his head. He felt so guilty. He remembered in his earlier years looking down on same-secondary-sex couples, not hating them. No, never hating them. He was for them being legalised, really. But just having a low opinion of them. And now his son was a, uh, g-word. Poor Loki.

“UCL has allowed Brunnhilde to attend lessons with you.” Frigga said, re-entering the room. She’d left to open up the windows. Loki didn’t know why they didn’t do it more often, the view from he apartment was amazing, and if you craned your neck enough you could **_just_** glimpse a peek of the Thames.

“Thank you both, for everything.”

“You’ve no need to thank us, son, we’re your parents. This is what we’re here for.” Frigga pinched Loki’s cheek fondly. “We can have pork beans tonight, your favourite.”

“Thanks, mother!” He smiled. He didn’t know why, but there was something in him that didn’t want that. Something in him that said it’d be too much, that he’d probably get sick from all of that heavy food.

.

See, the thing that Thor _hadn’t_ banked on, was that the owner of the hotel that they were staying at was a friend of Byleistr Laufeyson’s, or that he was _employed_ by Laufey Nalson (who apparently owned everything in this damned city).

Thor and Heimdall went to sleep and woke up with a group of men surrounding them. The footballers from that night.

“What do you want, Laufeyson?” Thor growled, his neck gland secreting Alpha hormone. Sure, everyone in the room was an Alpha, but it didn’t take a genuis to realise that Thor and Heimdall could take _all of them_ in a fight.

“A word, Odinson.” Byleistr clicked his fingers. “Men, disperse. This doesn’t _need_ to get physical.”

There was a second man with him, one whom Thor did not recognise. He looked a lot like Byleistr, maybe it was his elder brother, Helblindi?

“How dare you cheat on my cousin?” Byleistr growled, as soon as everybody was out.

“How dare your father out my brother.” Thor growled back.

“I’ven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Liar! Laufey wants Loki dead, he’s trying to frame it as a hate crime!”

“Your words make no sense, spawn of Odin, there’s no reason my father would want some stranger dead.”

Thor really, _really_ shouldn’t have. Like, you don’t understand how much he really shouldn’t have. Loki had a decent life, he belonged away from these monsters, honestly.

_But if his brother were to die tomorrow and Laufey got his wish, how could he let Laufey’s crimes go without notice? Someone else_ **_had to know_ ** _._

“What are you talking about? **_We’re_** Laufey’s sons.” Turns out he didn’t need to spend that long thinking about it, he’d already gone out and said it. Also, it appears he was right, the bigger, taller one _was_ Helblindi after all.

“I’m talking about his _last_ son. You know, the Omega he put in an orphanage right after he killed your mother.”

“How **_dare_** you accuse our father of killing our mother, son of Odin! Is this common in your wretched family, you commit infidelity and then you accuse someone _else_ of committing a crime?”

Helblindi hadn't said a word throughout the entire conversation. Thor looked at him. He’d gone white. Byleistr shot him a glance too, his gruff face going slack. 

“Well… mother had just given birth…” Helblindi said, turning a little green. He stood stock still, like he was frozen there, like some ginormous ice sculpture. Fragile but solid.

“And then mother was _murdered_! By a group of **_criminals_ , ‘**Blindi. And our brother was **_kidnapped_**! Honestly, how can you trust an Odinson!?” Byleistr raged, clearly furious that his brother was even entertaining the notion that their father had done something criminal. _Boy, do I have a bucketload of stories to tell you._

Helblindi shrugged, eyes not leaving Thor. “My brother has reason to be suspicious. This seems like an oddly convenient time for you to drop such information.”

“My brother might die any day now, there’s no point keeping it a secret.”

“Die? Of what?” Helblindi ignored the dirty looks Byleistr was giving him. Helblindi had always had a secret feeling that his father wasn’t entirely innocent in the death of his mother. It was over twenty years ago, but Helblindi could still remember his uncle’s flat tone while addressing the birth of his baby brother.

“He’s been outed as being a- well, you know, the g-word.”

“ _Ghlin_!?” Helblindi blinked. In Iceland that was a death sentence waiting to happen. Most people in Iceland were rather nice, the **_horrible_** few more than balanced it out though. He had to admit, Omega x Omega relationships were… _weird_ , especially to think about… but that didn’t give anyone the right to hurt someone over it. Consenting adults were consenting adults at the end of the day.

“Yeah. Somebody put all these posters of him and his girlfriend around both of their universities. And since your father visited two weeks ago-”

“You think he had them set up so that someone from AOOK or AS would kill your brother and his ‘dirty little secret’ would go away?”

“Aye.”

“Listen to you too, you’re both spouting nonsense.” Byleistr huffed. “Helblindi, this man is trying to get into your head. I say we rough him and his friend up and be on our merry way.”

“No.”

“ _No_.”

“No.” Helblindi shook his head. “By, mother’s death has always been such a strange thing… I want to go and meet this ‘Loki’ fellow.”

“And what do you want me to tell father then, huh? That his eldest has gone gallivanting with the enemy?”

“You don’t have to tell him anything if you come along too.”

“Helblindi listen to yourself! This man has given you no proof at all of what he’s saying!”

“You can ask your cousin.” Thor piped up. “Er, Jarnsaxa.” Byleistr looked murderous. “Back-um, back when we were… uhm… yeah. So your father invited us out to lunch, all his questions were about Loki. Look, it’s been nice entertaining you both, but I’ve a flight to catch midday.”

“Very well, Odinson. But if your words are false it shall not be my father’s wrath you have to fear.” Byleistr hissed. “Come, brother.”

“I need a drink.” Helblindi mumbled, following Byleistr out.

.

“Who’re you texting, hun?” Frigga asked, having had crept into Loki’s room in the wee hours of the morning to check that he was still alive and well. Oh this whole situation was so awful. Her poor baby, she felt like cradling him tight in her arms just as she had when she’d brought him home that first day. Oh, he’d been so young. She’d obviously been worried about him suffering from trauma on account of the loss of his mother, but child psychologists had assured her not to worry, that he was too young to remember that (less than a week old when it happened, by her estimate). 

“Leah.” Loki had been glued to his phone, obsessively texting to ask if she was still okay. His eyes were wide and dry, a side-effect of staring at the screen in the dark.

“Oh, honey.” Frigga ran her hand through Loki’s silky black hair tenderly (he must have recently shampooed it). “These are hard times, aren’t they? Why don’t you invite her here?”

“She’d have to walk here _alone_ , mother.”

“Your father could go pick her up.” Frigga volunteered. He was an Alpha, after all.

“No… she’s alright where she is. Her roommate is a Beta. Besides, Leah doesn’t smell much, and she apparently told someone that _we’re_ not mates, we’re just mated to the same Alpha.”

“She’s a smart girl.” Frigga noted. Nobody would mind Leah and Loki’s relationship if there was an Alpha involved in it. Stupid misogynistic society that they lived in. 

“Aye, I don’t think she would have gotten into _Imperial_ if she were an idiot.”

“You almost got into _Cambridge_.”

“Almost being the key word, mother.” He reminded her. “Is there a reason you’re up at this hour?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Needed to check up on my little prince.” She pinched his cheek. He gently swatted her hand away.

He rolled over. “You can sleep with me if it will put your mind to ease.”

“A grown boy sleeping with his _mother_?” She teased.

“More like a grown woman needing the comfort of her son’s alive and well body to aid her in her journey through the mystical realm of Hypnos.” Loki deadpanned. “Would you like to or not?”

“Fine.” She got into the bed and he laid down on her arm, just like he would when he was a child. “Sleep, my son. Put that phone away. Everything will be fine by the morning, I should hope.”

“Thanks, mother.”

“My good boy… your ancestors are watching you right now. This is a _trial_ , you need to get over it.”

“Will do, mother.”

“You-”

“ _Good night, mother_!” Loki groaned, moving off her arm and curling up in his corner. Frigga laughed and turned on her side too.

.

“Yeah, he did ask a lot of questions. Let me guess, now _you’re_ interested in the little bitch too?” Jarnsaxa seethed.

“Did he give you a reason _why_ he was asking so many questions?” Byleistr pressed.

“Loki is stealing company secrets, that’s why. Why are you so curious?”

“I’ll tell you if it leads anywhere, but… never mind. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

.

“I’ve always thought the symbol was a bit crass, you know.” Odin said, looking at the AOOK symbol on the poster Loki’d brought home with him. “An Omega with its legs open… deplorable. Not to mention it must violate like at least 20 different public indecency laws.”

“And yet the AOOK hasn’t been labelled a domestic terror organisation.” Loki rolled his eyes.

“Patience, son. In time I’m sure the government will come around.” Frigga soothed. “It’s just fool of snobby, out-of touch, old men at the moment.”

“I hope you’re right. Maybe I ought to stage a coup.” Loki grumbled to himself. Frigga smacked Loki upside the head.

“Careful, son. We don’t need a Loki Odinson night every February 23.”

“I’d make a handsome firecracker.”

“The prettiest part would be right after you burst.” Frigga deadpanned. 

“Oh, touchy mother. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous of my likeness being cast upon a firecracker.”

“No, my dear. Just worried about the poor children who’ll have to look at it.”

Odin’s eyes flickered back and forth as the pair bickered. The only thing that could possibly make this moment more perfect would be if Thor were here and Loki and Thor were both 5 and 9 respectively. Oh, raising Loki had been so fun back when he could just pick him up and put him down wherever was most convenient. Back when he could literally slide Loki along the wooden floors of their home with a stick, and Loki would just sit there like a mop. Such good memories.

.

Brunnhilde arrived before Thor did. She was a fierce woman, with dark skin and a little bit of blue paint on her right cheek. She was intimidating and at the same time really quite attractive. You could tell she knew her way around a crossbow (guns were illegal to possess in England). She wore a padded vest (probably bullet proof) and padded pants as well.

She didn’t speak much, just kept staring at him. Vigilant, he liked.

“Lackey, what do you have to eat around here?” She asked, bored.

“We’ve got some bacon in the fridge.”

“Dope!” She went over to grab some. Phew, okay, now he could probably admit that he didn’t really like her. Urgh. She seemed so bossy and stuffy and mean and uncooperative and just- _no_!

.

Thor came home in the afternoon.

“Brother, how was your trip?”

“Unremarkable. Who’s that?” Thor frowned, pointing at Brunnhilde.

“The bodyguard mother and father got me.”

“Where are they?”

“They left as soon as she arrived.”

Thor nodded slowly. “Hello?”

“Hello.” She nodded, not breaking his stare once. Fierce. 

And then, like a scene straight out of a movie, her face broke into a smile, she walked over to Thor, and gave him one heavy friendly punch in the shoulder. “I like this one!” She said.

“As do I!” Thor grinned amicably, “Do you watch WWE?”

“ _Do_ I!?” 

Oh no. This was worse than hell, it had to be.

.

After the weekend, by the Monday (Thor had gotten back three days ago) everything had seemed to have calmed down.

Word had spread that Loki and Leah both had a shared Alpha, that they were sister Omegas, and everyone was just fine with that. Misogynists, the lot of them.

“It doesn’t matter how they perceive things, as long as you’re safe.” Verity comforted Loki. 

“I really hope you’re right about that.” Loki munched on the PB&J sandwich he’d smuggled into the cafeteria. He wasn’t in the right mind space to eat something bigger than that.

“Of course I’m right, when am I ever wrong?” She winked at him.

Brunnhilde watched them from a distance. She wanted to be able to monitor anyone who was going near or around them, hence why she wasn’t sitting with them.

.

Brunnhilde, it turned out, was also a smash hit with Verity. And David. And Thomas. And literally everybody but him.

_Except_ …

“That guy, the one with the blonde hair. He keeps watching you, it’s bugging me out.” Brunnhilde said, once they were out of the main university building. Gosh, it was sunny today. His corset was a bit tight, but there was _some_ wiggle room there. He had to take deeper breaths of air than usual though, the air was a little dry for some reason (it was only the 28th of February).

“Who?” Loki glanced over and saw Jarnsaxa, who apparently now sported a thick pair of glasses, quickly turn his head back to his friends who were chatting away because of _course_ they chatted all the time, they were friends with Jarnsaxa. “Oh, that’s, uhm, that’s Thor’s ex.”

“Ah, I get it. Thor seems like a nice guy, probably still love-sick over him.”

“Can you blame him? Thor’s the best!”

“Oh?” Loki hated the way she looked at him. Not judgemental, no, he could have dealt with judgemental, but… _understanding_. “I see then.”

“What, see what!?” He snapped, annoyed.

“Nothing, I just- Loki? **_Loki_**!?” She grabbed him as he fell. A group of students surrounded him.

“What’s wrong?” A girl with auburn har ran to the front. Probably one of Loki’s friends, but Brunnhilde hadn’t gotten around to meeting her yet.

“Call 999, he’s just fainted!”


	22. About Mass Shooters

Loki once more woke up to a frantic Thor over his hospital bed chattering away with the doctor. _What_?

His parents were there too… he felt bad, they had to keep coming back for him.

“Loki, you’re up!” Frigga’s comment broke up Thor and the doctor’s conversation, which it seemed Odin had also been rather heavily involved in.

“Yeah?” He sat up a bit, feeling dizzy, and looked around. “What happened?”

“You fainted.” The doctor said, simply. He was a tall, thin man with dark brown hair, strange-looking in Loki’s opinion. Probably middle aged? “You fainted, we’re of the opinion that it was that corset you were wearing, it was a bit too tight, see?” Loki looked at his family and immediately knew that that was not all that they’d been discussing. “Now, if you excuse me, I must go look at the blood work they did on you.” He turned abruptly and left.

“Mother, father, what’s going on?” Loki asked his parents.

“Well, see son… you’re a bit underweight.” Odin tried.

“Well, I’ve been having a loss of appetite ever since this last disaster happened.” He said off-handedly.

“Right! See, that’s what I said!” Thor nodded, happy with the answer. Though if Loki had to admit to himself, his brother did seem a bit stiff. Was that what they were all worried about then, his weight?

“Right, and we mentioned that to the doctors… but they said your BMI was about 16, which they said wouldn’t have been possible over the course of a week unless you were a sprinter running on nothing but water… your doctor thinks you might be anorexic, son…” Frigga said slowly.

Both Odin and Thor looked uncomfortable with that word, they probably had different ideas. Loki did too, he thought that this was all bullcrap, and he was going to let his mother know that.

“Mother, I’m **_fine_**! If my BMI’s gone down it was because I tried going vegan for a bit.” Frigga’s eyes nearly exploded out of her head. Odin had often looked as though he wanted to disown Loki, but never more so than now. Thor his behind his hands.

“Thor Odinson, you **_knew_** **_of this_** , didn’t you?” Frigga spun on her eldest.

“Mother, please! I’ve suffered enough! He-he even made me _try_ that Vegan bacon of his!” Thor begged.

“Mother, it was just a phase. I’m over it now.” Loki assured. 

The doctor came back, walking purposefully. “Alright then, Loki. You’ve got an abnormally low blood count, just 4.01 million cells/mcL… that’s not good. Not to mention that you’re low on B3, B6, A, C, and K- those are all vitamins, by the way… right, well… I’ve advised a social worker that you need to see a psychiatrist… I believe you have anorexia nervosa.”

“But doctor-” Loki protested.

“No buts!” The man said, swiftly turning out of the room and walking off. Rude.

“It wouldn’t hurt to see the psychiatrist, with everything going on right now, you know?” Frigga said hesitantly.

All three men in her life were the most hard-headed people she knew. And none of them would believe that Loki needed to see a psychiatrist, but she knew better. She was his _mother_. She’d thought that he’d looked a bit off at Christmas, and going vegan **_definitely_** wouldn’t have explained why Loki’s skin had gone yellow.

She’d seen anorexia before. Her sister, Freyja, had been a model in university. It had taken the whole family to keep her from going off the deep end. She hoped it wasn’t as bad in her son.

“When am I being discharged?” Loki asked.

“We don’t know sweetie. They might just check your vitals and send you off on your way.”

.

Apparently not! Apparently they needed him to see that psychiatrist **_first._** Apparently his previous medical history had come into light, and his doctor thought he might be suicidal. Fucking prick.

“Hello, Loki.” Smiled Doctor Nice. “How are you, dear?”

“Good.”

“Good. Feeling nervous? Anything I can offer you to calm you down, a nice cup of tea?”

“I’m good, thanks miss. I’d really rather just get on with it.”

“Understandable.” She chuckled. Nice old lady, he’d had her that last time he was at the hospital, while he was under suicide watch. “Now, why don’t you tell me how you’ve been feeling… you said that last time there was some issue with your brother’s partner, you two not getting along.”

“Well, yes, but that’s all over now. He left the man in question.”

“Why?”

“Er, they broke up.” He shrugged. “Don’t really know why, I heard talks of one of them cheating. None of my business really.”

“Hmm, doesn’t sound like you. Is there maybe something that you did that you don’t want to tell me?” She knew him better than to not dig his nose into something, apparently. Well, they had had like an entire hour long session before, so yeah, she probably did.

“I was the one who told his boyfriend.” Loki lied smoothly.

“That seems harsh.”

“It was fair and deserved. You have the right to know when somebody is cheating on you.”

“Right… do you think that maybe you’ve been feeling a bit of guilt towards this? That maybe your guilt over it is why you haven’t been eating as much?”

“I’m eating just fine.”

“I’d disagree there, son. What did you have for breakfast this morning?” It was now night… ah, that timeline sort of made sense.

“I had two bananas and some milk.”

“Do you do this regularly or were you running late?”

“Regularly. Why, what’s wrong with it, I thought fruit was supposed to be good for you?”

“It is. How often do you work out?”

“Once a day.”

“Hmmm… you don’t think working out once a day you ought to be eating more, then?”

“I think I’m eating just fine, Ms.”

“What do you usually have for lunch?”

“A salad.”

“What kind of salad? Caesar? King?”

“Just a normal salad: lettuce, fetta, tomatoes, dressing, and onions.” He listed.

“Oh, sounds healthy. Dinner?”

“Whatever Thor cooks.” Loki shrugged.

“What kinds of food do you like to snack on?”

“Uhmm…”

“ _Uhmmm_ …? I take it no snacks during the day, then?” She made a mental note of that. With what he was describing, it was becoming increasingly likely that he was maybe _just_ pushing 1200 kcal a day… no wonder he’d lost so much weight…

“No, not really one to snack ‘m afraid.”

“How’ve your grades been, Loki?”

“Fine.”

She bit her tongue to keep herself from mentioning that going hungry would starve his brain too. This kid was clearly under a lot of stress from something. Maybe school, maybe his love life. She nodded to him. “How’ve you been feeling then? With everything going on?”

“Fine. I’m good, Ms. Really good.”

“Right, very well then.” She got up and brushed her skirt down. “You can go on your way. It’s been a pleasure.” She walked up to him and shook his hand.

.

“He’s been doing fine at school, I think.” Thor’s eyebrow crinkled. The psychiatrist had called Thor, Odin and Frigga into the room after. She couldn’t tell them what Loki had said, but she could get information on him that he wasn’t putting up, and she could best advise them on how to care for his clearly fragile mental health.

“Do you think there might be too much stress for him there?” Frigga asked, looking up from her bitten nails.

“I’m unsure, it’s hard to say when he provides such little information. We’ll continue these sessions… but for now, what you **_can_** do is try to get him to eat more.”

Frigga and Odin both looked straight at Thor, who nodded. “Will do.” He said, firm.

“Good. Take care! If you can think of any possible stressors in Loki’s life, try to do away with that too.”

“Thanks, doc.” Thor waved.

.

Once their parents had gone, it was just Loki and Thor, back in that apartment together. _Bros_. Oh, and Brunnhilde, but Loki liked to pretend she didn’t exist. It was a fun little game of theirs.

Loki had a ton of messages to respond to. Three from Leah: one asking if he was okay, the other asking if he’d been attacked, and the last one ‘whoops! Silly me, you must be in heat, lol!’. One from Verity (because she went to UCL and so _of course_ she knew what had happened). One from _each_ of his friends, to be precise. Grr, why couldn’t they have just used the damned group chat? Copy, _paste_ , motherfuckers!

“Grab your coat, Lokeroni, we’re going out!” Brunnhilde burst into laughter at Thor’s chosen nickname for Loki. Loki glared at his brother. Both he and Brunnhilde had their coats on. Brunnhilde’s was a light blue parka, which she wore with light blue padded pants and a white loose top that, again, probably had a bulletproof vest under it. This lady did _not_ fuck around. It would be impressive if she herself weren’t so insufferable.

“Where are we going?” Loki complied. 

“To the burger joint around the block! We’re going to stuff you full of big burgers and fries.”

“Why?” Loki asked, defensive.

“To celebrate you being discharged, of course. Now come on, I’m paying.”

_You always pay_ , wasn’t how Loki was going to respond to that. Not when he was being offered a free meal on the tight, tight my-millionaire-parents-pay-for-everything budget he was on. Loki got up and put his coat on and his boots and hopped on out with Thor and Brunnhilde.

.

“Brother, what are you doing!?” Byleistr hissed as he saw Helblindi grab his suitcase.

“Going to visit my girlfriend.”

“Bull, you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Father doesn’t know that.” Helblindi looked at his brother pointedly. “Why even ask when you already know?”

“What you’re doing is madness. Clearly the Odinsons have an agenda.”

“We won’t know that unless we go there and check it out.”

“Who is this ‘we’ that you are referring to?”

“ _Brother_ , come on.” Helblindi looked at Byleistr pleadingly. “You can’t tell me you’re not the least bit curious. This could finally solve the death of our mother.”

“And? What? At the expense of our father.”

“If what Odinson is saying is true, she didn’t deserve to die for birthing a female son… er, an Omega son.” He corrected himself. Little habit that ran through the entirety of the village they’d grown up in, to call Omegas female. Male Omegas were what was known as _ergi_ , but he supposed he ought to stop using that term too.

“Grr, **_fine_** , but what shall I tell father?”

“That you are going to spy on me, because you don’t believe I have a girlfriend.”

“He’ll smack me for that, he’s wanted you married off for a half decade.”

“At least you can claim innocence if he ever finds out about this.”

“Fair.”

.

It had really been too long since Loki’d seen Leah. His little ray of sunshine.

“Hey, sweetie!” He greeted, kissing her on the cheek. “I brought you flowers!”

“Awww, baby!” Leah grinned, accepting the flowers. “Happy three-month-aversary!” She handed him a box of chocolates.

“Three years and three months, technically.” He winked cheekily.

“Ha, ha! I suppose that’s true! Sorry, I was going to bring you some champagne, but I’ve no idea when or if you’re allowed to even drink again.”

Thor _hadn’t_ told Frigga or Odin about that whole little incident. Thank the Norns. He’d asked his brother why, and he’d whispered ‘alcohol’ at him with wide eyes. Bitch, like their parents didn’t know Loki drank! And besides, it hadn’t even been that serious! The doctor had said there wasn’t any major damage (Loki had apparently gotten off quite lucky), but that he ought to stop drinking for a while (the doctor had, of course, not specified how long this ‘while’ was supposed to be, but Loki had decided he’d be off it till September).

“I like the chocolates more, they’re sweet, like you.” He smiled.

“Awww, baeeee!” She kissed him on the cheek. “So, where’re we going?”

“To the London Eye.”

“Loki! The line’s like 2 hours long!”

“And _that_ is how we’re going to spend the rest of the date!” Leah groaned while Loki gave a Cheshire grin. The perfect couple, really.

.

“What are you doing here? And how did you find me?” Thor eyed Byleistr and Helblindi up and down.

“We told Jarnsaxa we wanted to rough you up. Do yourself a favour and go into work tomorrow with purple eyeshadow on.” Helblindi tossed Thor a little makeup palette. Lmao, like he couldn’t have just borrowed one of Loki’s **_many_** ones. “Where’s Loki?”

“Out.”

“ _Alone_? At a time like this?”

“With his girlfriend and his bodyguard. Please, sit.”

“Aren't you worried about some AOOK fucker bothering them?”

“Brunnhilde is more than capable of handling them.”

“Brunnhilde? Like, a girl?” Byleistr’s nose curled.

“Yes, and if I were you I’d leave that Alpha misogyny at the door, thank you. She is more than capable of kicking your arse.”

Byleistr looked ready to start a fight, but Helblindi held him back and quickly whispered something into his ear that held him back. Thor neither knew nor cared for the words that had just been uttered, he was too busy trying to figure out how he’d be explaining this to Loki.

“How long will your brother be out?” Helblindi asked.

“He left with her about two hours ago, so not too long I’d suppose… unless they go back to Leah’s for sex… I’ll call him.”

Loki **_naturally_** didn’t pick up, so Thor called Brunnhilde who assured Thor they’d be back within an hour at the very latest.

“So, gentleman. I find myself asking once more: what can I get for you?”

.

Mean, sour Brunnhilde told Loki that Thor needed him back ASAP, and that Loki’d have to end the date. _As if_!

Brunnhilde carried Loki back to his apartment over her shoulder. Like-like a sack of _potatoes,_ if you could believe it! She dropped him unceremoniously onto his feet at the door to the apartment. Cursing, he fished out his key and opened the door.

“Thor! What the ever-loving-bloody-motherfucking-fuck do you want!?” Loki hollered as soon as he stepped through the door. Ooh, they had company.

Wait a second. That was Byleistr frigging Laufeyson. And there was someone else there that looked like him but older (Helblindi, Loki knew from the obsessive cyber-stalking he’d forever deny having had done, the spitting image of Laufey with his long, narrow nose, and crystal blue eyes and short black hair (well, Loki supposed that Laufey's was blonde)). **_What_** _!?_

“Loki, sit down.” Thor said, though he’d already gotten up to do the chore _for_ Loki. And then:

“You look just like my- _our_ mother…” Helblindi breathed, reverently. He turned to Thor. “So I take it you weren’t lying then?”

“Thor, who- why are these people here?” Loki asked, fearfully. Did Thor know that their father had killed his mother? Yes, he was fairly certain that Thor did.

“Loki, these are your biological brothers… I met them on my trip to Iceland.”

“Why did you _bring them here_!?” In truth, this was probably a conversation best held in private, but Loki wasn’t in the right state of mind to care.

“Loki, they’re here to meet you.”

“Why’d you tell them about me!? You know what Laufey did-”

“Brother, at the time, and still now currently, I was scared he was trying to do the same thing to _you_. So yes, I decided it was best not left a secret!” Thor said, firmly. “Do you think anyone would believe any of this if you were lying dead in a ditch somewhere!? **_No_**! It’s for your own safety, Loki.” Loki could tell from the stare of Thor’s eyes that he wasn’t going to be backing down in this.

“Eh hem… I would like to take the moment to formally apologise for the bar incident that night, I did not know that you were my brother.” Byleistr said, quietly. He’d seen a few photos of his mother. This man was definitely his brother.

_So it would have been fine had you not known me?_ Loki thought bitterly.

“What does this mean, then? What is the point in all of this?” Loki asked, finally.

Helblindi cleared his throat. “We, uh… we don’t know. We don’t know where to go from here… if this is all true- well, I mean, it clearly all is… if this is true then we need to do something. We can't get father get away with this!”

“What are you saying?” Byleistr asked his brother. Er, his older brother. 

“By… our father killed our mother.” Helblindi said. He’d had his suspicions all these years, but it still felt weird to vocalise out loud. 

“We don’t know that for sure… right?” Byleistr looked at Thor.

Oh, Thor knew that for sure alright. Laufey’s own words had confirmed every word his mother had told him as a young boy. But Thor also knew that now probably wasn’t the right time for Byleistr and Helblindi to hear that. The two of them were in shock. He didn’t want to _outright_ lie to them, so he simply shrugged. “Just our parents’ suspicions.” And a bunch of other damning evidence.

“Why don’t we… why don’t we start from the beginning, then? Um, I’m Helblindi. I suppose that I am your older brother then, hi!” Helblindi gave a half-hearted wave. “This is Byleistr, he is my younger brother and your older brother.”

“Okay, uh, stop! Stop, we don’t have to do this.” Loki shook his head. “Look, do what you will with this information, but I personally don’t want anything to change, and I’m sure you don’t either. As far as you two are concerned, you’re brothers, and as far as I’m concerned, Thor is my brother. Right, Thor?” Loki turned back to look at Thor, and how could Thor ever hope to say no to those malefic, green eyes.

“Whatever Loki wants, I’m on board for.” Thor made his position clear. Loki took his hand in a sign of silent gratitude.

“Right,” Helblindi said, awkwardly. “Well, we’re just glad to have made our presence known. And, uhm, I cannot speak for my brother, Byleistr, but if you ever want to reach out to us or contact us or something, then feel free and take care.”

“Thank you.” Loki nodded.

Byleistr looked a bit dazed, but nodded and pointed at Helblindi. “Yeah, er, what we said. Uhm, what he said, I mean. Look.” He took out a pad and pen from his pocket. “We’re staying at the Raddison, it’s not terribly far from here, this is our room number as well as my messenger number, hit us up if you need anything.” He told Loki.

“Thank you.” Loki nodded. After the two left he spun on Thor. “ _Are you insane!?_ ”

“What for!?”

“Thor, are you mental!? Do you have any kind of idea what drama you’ve invited into our lives!? If Laufey didn’t have a hit on me yet, he’ll have one on me now!”

“He wouldn’t dare.” Thor assured his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder as a sign of both solidarity and comfort. “He wouldn’t dare, not now that other people know. Don’t you see, Loki, mother and father hiding you in the shadows this whole time- _that_ was the mistake! This is just like the Cold War, now Laufey’ll be afraid of mutually assured destruction!”

“Thor, _you’ve_ gone MAD!” Loki hissed. “What is to stop him from taking out his own sons? He’s clearly shown he’s more than capable of doing so!”

Thor shook his head. “That man is ancient in his ways. What he cares about most is bloodline, Loki. He would not waste two Alpha sons. He’d rather go to jail, don’t you see?”

“I-I really hope that you’re right about this… but even if you are, if he sees himself going down… Thor, there’s a reason that mass shooters are so terrifying… a lot of the times they know they’re going to end it after…

“And when that happens they tend to not care who they’re bringing down with them.”


	23. Chapter 23

Byleistr took the opportunity to explode at Helblindi when they were in their hotel room, having had both flopped on the bed.

“The fuck is wrong with you!? What do you mean ‘what should we do now’!?”

“Well, what _should_ we do? We can’t just let father get away with it!”

“How do you even know he’s done anything!? Maybe he doesn’t know about Loki’s existence either!?”

“Bull.” Helblindi said, his eyes steely. “You know that, just as I do. Else you wouldn’t have lied to come here, you’d have told him with confidence.”

“You’re mad.”

“Am I?” Helblindi looked at his brother before a soft expression broke out on his face. “You’re too young to remember her, mom, but she doted on you. Really. She loved you so much. She used to call you her little knight back when you were a toddler” He rolled over on his side and fell asleep.

Byleistr didn’t turn the lights out. He just stared at the ceiling, his mind all foggy and spent. What the hell had just happened in there? He’d found out that he’d had a brother, is what. That that brother was _Thor Odinson’s_ brother. Well, fake brother. He thought to Loki’s words ‘this doesn’t have to change anything’ was he right though? Byleistr didn’t really want anything to change, but it already had, hadn’t it? Already he knew that he had a brother out there, not dead like Laufey had hypothesised when Byleistr had asked him about a comment made by a friend, but very much alive, and breathing and well.

He thought about taking his phone out and texting Jarnsaxa, but something stopped him from doing so. He wasn’t quite sure **_what_** stopped him from doing so, but something did. Jarnsaxa was rather close to Laufey, Byleistr reasoned. It would be wrong to ask him to pick a side here. Not to mention that it was no secret that while Jarnsaxa had a new boyfriend now, he held no love in his heart for Thor Odinson nor his brother ( _their_ brother… Jarnsaxa’s cousin, oh wow).

.

Loki had no idea why he wound up sending the damned text, but he did.

_L: What’s ur number_

Byleistr hadn’t responded to it yet. Loki paced around his room, anxious for Thor not to hear him. Great, that was two thinks to be anxious about.

It had started with him being unable to sleep. And then him looking to the picture frame on his bedside table. It was Thor and him as kids. Well, him as a kid, Thor’d already his moody teenager phase. ‘ _No, mom, milk before bed is for losers and babies!’_ He remembered fondly. Loki had stopped drinking milk after that before bed. He didn’t want to be a loser or a baby. Thor started wearing leather jackets at around fifteen, and Loki, desperate to copy his way cooler, way smarter big brother had adopted the same look. He remembered, with a happy, dopey smile, how rather than making fun of Loki for copying him, Thor had encouraged it. So many happy memories with his brother.

Except that Thor wasn’t his brother, not really, not biologically or they never would have mated… Helblindi and Byleistr were. It wasn’t like they’d _chosen_ to not be in Loki’s life, no, that choice had been robbed of them, as had their mother, when they were just children by their shared disgusting pile of trash of a father. Thor was right, why should Laufey get off scot-free in all of this? So he’d sent the text message.

He heard a ping.

_B: ur? Lol, never took you for the slang type_

_B: And what do you mean? You already have my number._

_L: Your Icelandic one, I’m assuming you’re not looking to pay data fees_

_B: I’ll send you my WhatsApp… as soon as I get a new phone_

_B: I don’t want Laufey finding this, I think_

_L: You think?_

_B: Go to sleep._

Loki smiled fondly. In an odd way, Byleistr’s text tone sort of reminded him of Thor’s.

.

Things with Leah were going so well that had either of them had their own place, Loki might have asked her to move in with him or vice-versa.

Not a problem though. They had endless sleepovers at Loki’s and, whenever Leah’s roommate was out (since, you know, she actually had to share a _room_ with her roommate), they’d spend the night at Leah’s.

Everything was going peachy, they really were, until _that_ night.

Loki was just chilling around in the living room, watching tv, listening to Attenborough talk about whales, when his brother came home.

“Loki… I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh no, that’s never good for anyone.”

“Focus, brother… I’ve had to ask myself the question: are the stresses in your life contributing to your eating disorder? Because, if they are, there’s a pretty big stress in your life which I feel like you could do without.”

“Thor, I’m not dropping out of school.”

“I was talking about Leah.”

“ ** _Thor_** , drop it! I’ve already told you, I’m not repressing some long-standing guilt over sleeping with you.”

“What about kissing me?”

“Really, brother? You think the kiss was worse than the fuck?” Loki drawled, bored.

“Brother, I’m serious… Look, I loved Jarnsaxa, well and truly loved him, but breaking up with him was such a huge weight off my shoulders. Trust me, you really ought to break up with Leah.”

Loki shook his head. “I am not as weak as you, brother. Like I said, she cheated first, she really ought to have no problem with this.”

“Loki, why are you always so stubborn?” Thor groaned. Loki didn’t miss a beat, hopping up.

“Could it be that that’s not the real reason you want me to break up with her, huh?” Loki asked, slyly, moving over to his brother. “Could it be you’ve an ulterior motive?”

“And what would that be?” Thor demanded. “Brother, I’m just trying to look out for you!”

“Oh, so that’s what we’re calling it now, eh?” Loki was invading Thor’s personal space. Loki could see it in Thor’s eyes, the film of sweat covering his forehead, his pupils now dilated. Loki went in for it then, kissed him, his hands roving up Thor’s back.

Thor pushed him away. Hard. “Don’t make this about- about that, Loki. Norns, why are you so difficult?” Thor wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Loki could tell that he’d upset his older brother.

_Well good,_ he thought, defensively _, that made them square_. 

He did truly try his best to deny the ache in his chest when Thor stomped off to his bedroom. Loki supposed that he ought to count himself lucky that it was Brunnhilde’s day off (well, _days_ , she only worked half-day from Fridays to Mondays).

.

Loki was starting to put on weight, and it was depressing him. He’d gained 3 kgs in the past two weeks, it was distressing.

He held his head in his hands, staring at himself in Leah’s bathroom mirror. Eventually, Leah knocked on the door.

“Babe… it’s been a half hour, are you alright in there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” No he wasn’t, that was such a lie.

“I’m coming in.” Leah said, ten minutes later, when she still hadn’t heard a sound. She walked in and gasped. “Baby, what happened!?” She stared at his arms which were full of scratches. Had Lokibeen scratching himself? Thor had warned her that Loki’s mental health was rather fragile at the moment. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I’m **_fat_**!” Loki exclaimed, chest heaving, “I’ve gained so much weight!”

“Alright, alright, don’t panic!” Her eyed couldn’t leave his reddened arms, in places it looked as though he’d torn skin. “Don’t panic, hey, listen to me, you’re not fat!”

"I've gained like 3 kgs in the past two weeks alone!” he sobbed.

“Hey, hey, here. Let me show you a trick Hela once showed me, back when I had a bit of a food addiction, it helped me lose tons of weight.” Leah soothed. She shooed him away from the basin, stuck her hand deep into her mouth, like she was fumbling around for something, and- bingo- her head went back and then violently forwards and spewed the lack of contents in her stomach (they’d just woken up) into the sink. “Voila.” She wheezed.

Vomiting… he’d heard of that before, vomiting after you ate to lose weight.

“Thank you,” Loki breathed, as Leah rinsed out her mouth, before pulling her in for a kiss. He didn’t mind the taste of bile, he was just so grateful to his beautiful, wonderful, smart girlfriend.

.

Thor tossed and turned in his bed. He was having a wet dream. Again. 

_Loki was sitting on his face while Thor ate his own cum out of him. They’d just finished one hot and steamy session of Thor taking Loki in the pile-driver position._

_“Faster- ah- Thor, or I’ll get pregnant.”_

_Thor shifted Loki just a little higher. “Maybe I want you to get pregnant.” He said, honestly. It wouldn’t be too bad, Thor was 26, had a well-paying job (better paid once you realised he didn’t have to pay for rent) not a bad time to start a family. They could have three boys and two girls, or vice-versa, Thor wasn’t picky._

_He could keep his bitch sated, fat and full with his children until his eggs ran out. Thor's cock twitched_.

“Gahh!” Thor shot up at the sound of his alarm. So close, in his dream he’d been so close to cumming. He switched the bloody thing off. Oh well, it seemed that he’d already taken care of the cumming bit in the real world.

Thor grunted, getting up and removing his sticky clothes. He’d have to do his sheets today.

.

Gym day! Yes, Brunnhilde was Loki’s bodyguard, but she lived with them and she did have time off. 

And when she had her time off, Thor and her very much enjoyed heading to the gym together!

“Can you spot me?” She requested. 

“How much?”

“70kgs, please.”

“Gotcha.” He grabbed the two 35kg discs for her and attached them to the bar while she laid down.

Brunnhilde did one hundred presses before moving out for Thor. He removed the weights and took it to a hundred.

He did 100 presses as well. 

Next was cardio. They both hopped onto a treadmill and started running. Now, Thor wasn’t especially competitive… except that he really, really was, and he always made sure he was ‘nonchalantly’ running faster than Brunnhilde (from the corner of his eye he could see that she was doing the same).

Their marvellous day at the gym ended with a little hot steam. They both got to use the Alpha room. A black room with glowing purple and cyan lights. Super fancy.

They left the gym sweaty and laughing. #Bros.

.

They went out for burgers that afternoon. They **_obviously_** took Loki with them.

Thor was proud of his brother. The doctor had said that Loki had put on an entire 2.78 kgs in the past two weeks, that his BMI was shifting into a _much_ healthier range. The doctor estimated that Loki only needed to gain back somewhere between 2 to 3 kgs for him to be healthy again.

“What’ll you be having then, Loki?”

“Uhmm… I want a cheeseburger, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to finish.”

“Just have half and take the rest home, you can have it as breakfast.” Thor assured his brother. He’d been making a conscious effort (that fight not included) to use kinder words when talking to Loki. There was a time for their usual dialect… this was clearly not the right time for it.

“Thank you brother.” Loki nodded.

“And to drink?”

“Er- a diet Coke?”

“Coke then, gotcha.” Diet his ass! Loki wasn’t allowed to eat anything with that bloody word on it ever again in Thor’s presence.

“So, how’s the whole… family situation going on, then?” Brunnhilde asked. she was one of the few who were privy to the whole affair. Not even their parents knew that they’d reached out to Byleistr and Helblindi.

“I’ve talked to Byleistr by text a few times. We might have a video chat soon, Byleistr and Helblindi both seem quite keen on it.” Loki kept his voice low whenever he uttered their names. He was no fool, he had long figured that Laufey must have spies around London, had _definitely_ had them in place since he found out about Loki’s existence. Not to mention that Jarnsaxa lived in London, and one could never know just how many friends the man possessed.

“So, what? Are you going to meet up with them, then? Like, eventually, I mean."

“Um, we haven’t gotten that far yet… to be quite honest, I thought they were huge snobby, misogynistic Alphas the first times we met… they don’t seem that bad now, but we might still be in the honeymoon phase.”

“Right, right… kind of exciting, isn’t it?” She smiled, dreamily. “To find your missing family after all these years.”

“Would’ve been nicer to know about them ear- sorry, never mind.” He shook his head, cutting himself off. No need to make Thor feel awkward. He loved his brother, he really did. Too much, technically, but he still did love him.

"No, it’s okay, I get what you mean.” Thor said reassuringly, brushing it off. Loki’s intent was not to harm him, and that was all the solace that he needed.

Their food came eventually. Loki still didn’t have the appetite to eat a full portion size, but it was coming back. As soon as he finished half the burger, as he’d promised, he excused himself into the bathroom. He coolly and calmly reached into the back of his throat, and spewed his contents into the sink, before washing up. Loki had the unfortunate luck that when he vomited, a bit came out of his nose, so he had to pick them with water on them.

He gargled, heard a toilet flush, looked up and froze at a familiar face in the mirror.

.

Jarnsaxa had been in the restaurant **_before_** Thor had gotten there, on a date with his boyfriend to be precise. But when he had seen Thor coming, he’d quickly gotten up and excused himself into the bathroom to hide.

His boyfriend had texted him several times, and he’d replied that he was constipated and was having trouble getting his shit out (lies), and had even sent his boyfriend photos of him on the toilet.

Eventually, he’d decided that enough was enough, and had wound up deciding to just face Thor. They were grown adults, after all.

And what did he find as he was exiting his stall? Loki vomiting in the sink. _Perfect_.

Were he more concerned about the man, he’d have told his brother. But really, what use was it? He had no relationship with either Odinson, and therefore no reason to report. God, he _hoped_ it was some sort of eating disorder. The little freak deserved one for all he’d done to Jarnsaxa, breaking him and Thor up and all that.

Hmm, maybe instead of outing him as a homosecondarysexual, he _should_ have outed him as a brotherfucker. Lol. 

Jarnsaxa washed his hands and went to rejoin his boyfriend. Neither he nor Loki traded so much as a word.

.

They had Loki’s weekly weigh-in at the doctor’s office. The doctor’s face turned into a frown. "149 pounds… that’s less than last time. A whole pound and a half less.”

Loki had a hard time keeping a smug look off his face. “But, how sir?” Thor asked, confused. “We’ve been making sure his meals are calorie dense- we take him out for _burgers_ every week! Surely he should have _gained_ weight, not lost it!”

The doctor went silent for a while. “I’m going to need to run a few tests. We’re going to need a throat scan in there.”

.

Thor was livid. _Bulimia, your brother has bulimia. It’s when he eats food and then throws it right back up._

Loki could tell that Thor was livid. His brother didn’t speak to him the whole ride home. And eventually, when he did:

“Who taught you, Loki?”

“Who taught me what?”

“To throw up. After you eat.”

“I taught myself.”

“Bull!” Thor snapped. “You’re a damned idiot at the best of times, but even you’re not that stupid!” He went silent. “It was that Leah, wasn’t it?”

“No!”

“Stop lying!” Thor roared. “You wouldn’t have protected the names of any of your other friends, don’t play games with me!”

“Who cares, Thor! She **_helped_** me!” Loki screamed right back. “I was suicidal! I didn’t want to put weight back on, you people are _forcing me_ to do this! She **_helped_**!”

Thor had to refrain from slapping the shit out of his idiot little brother. Loki wasn’t in the right headspace for a proper fight. “Breakup with her, Loki.” Thor said. Not a plea, not a request, rather a command.

“No.”

“Fine. Then just _die_ for all I care! My life does _not_ revolve around you and all your bullshit!” Thor stormed off.

Loki stood in the corridor, his lip wobbling. Leah _had_ helped him. She had. She was the perfect girlfriend. He loved her so very, very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of you Leah anti-stans, it's coming, just you wait.


	24. Enter: 💔

In the end, it wound up not being Loki’s choice to make, breaking up with Leah that was. On a cool Friday afternoon, with Brunnhilde in her room probably sharpening one of her knives, Loki heard the doorbell ring.

He got up, his hair wet having had just taken a shower. He opened the door, and it was like all of his nightmares rolled into one.

Same chiselled chest, same floppy red hair, same gorgeous blue eyes, same perfect fucking Daimon. Loki gulped. “Uhhh?”

“Loki.” Daimon greeted. “It’s been so long.”

“Yeah-yeah it has.” Loki’s voice went a little high-pitched. “So, uh, what’re you doing here? Leah said you became a pastor or a priest or, well, a religious leader.”

“Looking for Leah, actually.” Daimon confessed. “I-I want to tell her that I made a mistake, this whole thing was a mistake. I don’t know where to find her, but I saw you at UCL the other day and-”

“And what, you followed me home?” Loki scoffed, trying to mask his hurt. Daimon’s image was getting blurrier by the second. “She’s seeing someone.”

“Who?”

“Me.”

A look crossed Daimon’s face. “Oh.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment. “Well, uh, it’s still nice seeing you, I guess.”

“Same.” Loki said, before shutting the door and locking it for good measure.

Fucking Daimon.

.

Of course he told her, he couldn’t keep it to himself, dammit! Leah had taken one look at Loki’s long, sullen, grey face and asked ‘What’s wrong?’ And he’d gone straight ahead and told her about the handsome, redheaded Alpha who was now officially back in their lives (Loki’d stalked Daimon’s socials, he knew the man had just enrolled at Kings for a maths degree).

“Baby, there’s nothing to worry about.” Leah soothed him, assuringly. Loki didn’t believe her words, not for a second. And one look into her eyes and he knew that she didn’t either.

.

“Tighter.” Loki demanded, near breathless. He didn’t want to feel anything. It was a grey, stormy day, fitting. They were in his room. Leah had her strap-on on, and had Loki lying on the bed, missionary style.

“It seems pretty tight already.” Leah said. Her voice no longer held the same authority as it did, say, a week ago. Before Daimon had come back, before Loki’d told her.

“I don’t wanna- I wanna feel _high_ , choke me.” He begged, and she obliged. It was almost like an ‘I’m sorry’, every movement of hers, every thrust of hers into his body, every pull she made on his corset, bringing him to the brink of unconsciousness.

Loki wondered, right as he began to feel his consciousness ebb away, as Leah removed his corset and his torso fell back onto the bed, every ounce of energy he had leaving him post-orgasm (and wow, that orgasm had been near mind-shattering, he wasn’t even sure if he’d shot cum but it had been the best orgasm he’d ever had), if things might’ve been different had he told Leah that it would be the last time. The last time they fucked, the last time they held each other. And everything was grey. 

Loki broke up with Leah the next morning. And like a bird free of her cage, she was gone before Thor even woke up.

.

“I’m sorry, Loki.” Thor handed his miserable little brother a virgin cocktail. _7 more months_.

“’s okay, I guess.” Loki hiccoughed, as though it were real alcohol he was drinking. The tears were still fresh running down Loki’s face, so Thor wasn’t entirely sure the hysterically-sobbing brother he’d had to pull out of his room (yes, Thor _had_ had to break the door down) was being entirely honest. “I guess, in the grand scheme of things, her and I were never meant to work… she always wanted me under her thumb, dependent on her- not consciously, I think, but… definitely there-, and I… I never really wanted her, I guess? She’s a better match for Daimon… I’d thought when I’d seen her that it was fate, you know? That it was the universe trying to put us back together… but I guess, deep down, I always knew she belonged with him over me.” He hiccoughed again. “I mean… Omegas and Omegas… not much of a couple.”

“You don’t truly believe that last bit, do you?”

“No.” Loki laughed, a sad smile gracing his face, his cheeks tearing at the sticky saline crust forming on them courtesy of his now drying tears. “No… if Daimon didn’t exist, what we’d had would have been perfect… really…” if Thor didn’t exist, he might’ve been better able to convince himself of that.

“I still can’t believe one of your _closest friends_ cheated with **_your_** girlfriend.”

“We were just kids.”

“Still, says a lot more about the two of them than it does about you. I don’t buy into that ‘it’s only the person who’s in a relationship’s fault’ bullcrap. It’s both of your fault- their fault most of all- but it does take two people to cheat, even if you aren’t in a relationship, dating someone you know is is just disgusting.” Thor ranted, protective arm around his brother. 

Loki leaned back into Thor’s chest. “Thanks, brother… you’re not still made at me, are you? About the vomiting?”

“Brother, I could never be mad at you, only at the downright mental shit you pull sometimes.” Thor nuzzled the back of Loki’s neck in comfort. Thor decided not to mention that he’d also locked away all of the bathroom scales in the apartment after Loki’s ‘I’m fat’ comment. Somehow he didn’t feel that staring at those numbers was a good idea for Loki right now.

“Thank you… so where do we take it from here?”

“Take what?”

“Well… we’re both single…”

“You can’t go out to a bar, what’d you drink?”

“What?”

“Well, you want to go pick people up, right?”

“Thor, that’s not what I-”

“Right?” Thor looked pleadingly at his brother. And Loki understood it then. He nodded at Thor. “Right, of course… how stupid of me.”

.

“That’s rough, mate.” Verity slung an arm around Loki’s shoulder. “I never liked her anyways, always seemed so disingenuous.”

“Right.” The breaking up wasn’t as hard as the fact that he often saw Leah and Daimon together around London, and oh right, there was the fact that Loki was still obsessively stalking Daimon on Instagram under Loki’s fake handle: Chad West.

“You think those little AOOK fuckers will back off now?”

“Unlikely. Not unless I submit to an Alpha and my debauchery is pasted across the entire country for all to see.” Loki’d found an AOOK emblem emblazoned upon his maths lecture room. Brunnhilde had told him not to worry about it.

“Lol, if I see another one of those stupid AOOK stickers floating around, I might just pay you to do that.”

“Thanks, Ver.”

“My name’s already short, you don’t have to shorten it, **_L.”_**

“Touché, see, this is why I can’t be affectionate around you.” He stuck out his tongue.

“Wooowww… oh, hey, there’s Jarnsaxa looking pissy. He’s staring straight at you, man?”

Loki’s blood ran cold. Please, oh please, in all of Byleistr’s infinite wisdom, may someone tell Loki that his idiot of a biological older brother hadn’t told mister Priissy Stuck-up Smarmy Bougiepants that Loki was related to him? _Pretty please!?_

Thankfully, Jarnsaxa neither came over to Loki’s table, nor did Loki go over to Jarnsaxa’s.

.

“You booked me… a spa day?” Loki glanced at the vouchers his brother handed to him. He’d been studying something ( _yada yada, amygdala, yada, yada_ ) when Thor had walked in with some Chinese takeout and announced that he’d gotten a surprise for Loki.

“Yup!” Thor smiled, bonny as ever. Eyes bluer than the London skyline at midday on a nice summer’s day. “I think, you know, you’ve been quite stressed lately. Wouldn’t hurt, now would it?”

“Er, I suppose.” Loki eyed the two vouchers. “Why two?”

“So you can take a friend with you. Why not Verity?”

“Er, thanks Thor.” Loki took the vouchers. He wasn’t going to turn down free massages. Norns, these must have cost a mini-fortune, probably like 100 quid each… Loki’d pay Thor back later, he reasoned… sure, _‘later’_ (if he ever won the lottery, he figured).

“No problem!” Thor hugged him and went to grab his workout clothes. Brunnhilde had said she could probably beat Thor in a fight. Thor wasn’t having it.

.

Finals were due in a few months. Three months to be precise. Loki’d done barely any work this entire year. In fact, his grade average was about a 2:2. Not high enough to continue his course for a masters. And he was _not_ about to become the first person in his nuclear family to graduate without a masters degree in _something_! 

Loki was hard at work studying, but he had trouble finding the motivation. The entire year had been pretty shite, hadn’t it? Loki finished paging through his book on the brain. One book down, like seven to go.

Thor walked in. “ _Milkshakes_!” Thor handed Loki a vanilla one. “Your favourite!”

“Leah’s, actually. Norns, Thor, I don’t think I can look at another one again.” This was the thirty-seventh milkshake that Thor had brought Loki this week alone. That could _not_ be healthy! (Come to think of it… how come Thor wasn’t gaining weight… _grrr_ , stupid testosterone, Alphas could get away with eating an entire whale and not gain an ounce of fat!).

“Oh come on, you can’t still be upset over her! She’s the one that cheated that first time!”

“And me after, which made us square.” Loki pointed out, sipping on the milkshake anyways. Thor had had words with the doctor. They weren’t telling Loki how much he’d gained anymore. Apparently it would put him in a ‘negative headspace’ and make him ‘overly anxious’ which was ‘detrimental to his health’. Uhm, he could look after himself, thanks.  Though he _did_ love the attention.

“Not entirely sure that that’s how it works, sweetie. Why don’t you relax a bit, huh? You’ve been so hard at work and-”

“Thor- please, Thor, stop it.” Loki said, frustrated. “Stop acting like my mother.”

Thor bit his tongue. Loki needed to study, not to fight. That had always been a rule in their family: the house belongs to whoever’s got exams.

“So, uhm, how’s the situation going, er, with your brothers?” Thor asked, eventually.

“Quite fine. You know Byleistr’s a poet? I’m following him on my fake instagram account.”

“You have a fake instagram account?”

“Well, _duh_ , how else would I stalk people? Anyways, it’s actually pretty good. Uhm, Helblindi gave me his number- he got a burner phone. He, uh, he seems agitated.”

“Wouldn’t you be if you found out your father killed your mother?”

“Don’t even joke about that.” Loki warned, eyes narrowing. Frigga was going to live forever, deep down in his heart Loki knew that. Loki had once voiced such sentiments with Thor as a child. He could still hear Thor’s laughter. Loki had socked him in the jaw. #Manly. #Take_that_you_big_stinking_bully. “Anyways, yeah, the agitation is mostly aimed towards Laufey… you don’t think he’ll try pull something, do you?”

“I think it would be incredibly inconsiderate of him to make such a life-changing move without consulting you for your take on it.” Loki’s eyes doubled in size. “Wh- _hey_! I thought Laufey was going to kill you!” Thor defended his actions. “Besides, I’m not your bio brother, but we sill grew up together. I’m still in charge.” Loki snorted fondly. His big, stupid, handsome, god-like, idiot of a brother, that happened to also be super smart. It hurt him, truly, knowing Thor wasn’t… wouldn’t… yeah.

“I’m an adult.”

“You’ll always be the baby Frigga brought home to me.” Thor kissed Loki on the head, and Loki knew that Thor didn’t mean the kiss like that, but sometimes it was just nice to imagine. Imagine for just one moment that everything was different, that he and Thor were not brothers, but rather lovers. That Thor held Loki in his heart in that same place he’d held Jane and then Jarnsaxa prior.

“And you’ll always be the big, smelly idiot that punched Davy Davies for me.”

“He had it coming, using the F*t word on you.”

“He wasn’t entirely wrong.”

“Doesn’d mean he had a right… no idea where he is now, do you?”

“Oh, he got married- to a _man_ , I know, ironic. Anyways, the man is like 18, which, I mean, it’s only a seven year age gap, but… _eighteen_ , really? When you’re 25?”

“I get what you mean. Different life experiences.” Thor smiled dreamily. Loki cared not to know who he was thinking of. “Anyways, I suppose I best let you get back to your studying.” Thor stood up and ruffled Loki’s hair fondly.

.

Loki had another appointment with psychiatrist due. He started by answering all of her general health questions, which would no doubt be repeated for Thor: 

_Yes, I’ve been taking my antidepressants._

_I’ve experienced weight gain_

_I’ve been taking it nice and slow_

_I feel fine_

“So, has anything exciting come up? Any big changes?”

“I broke up with my girlfriend.”

“Oh. And how has that made you feel?”

“Like shit, honestly. I loved her very much.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, Loki.”

“It’s alright. Uhm, I think it was good for me in the long run.”

“How so?”

“Well, uh… I love her very much, and vice-versa, but I don’t think we’re really all that good for each other. Uhm, you know… I think we have a tendency to bring out the worst in each other. We met a long time ago, when I was- er, yeah. And we both had a lot of issues as teenagers. There were times during _this_ relationship where I was afraid I was regressing…”

“I see.” Dr Nice nodded, knowingly. “Well, Loki, sometimes that’s just what happens. You and someone love each other dearly, but it doesn’t change that your relationship is toxic.”

“Toxic.” Loki tested the word on his tongue. “Huh… yeah, I guess that sounds about right."

.

Thor couldn’t help himself. He really had no idea why he did it, in truth. He was just walking around the apartment, getting some cleaning in (Norns knew Loki never picked up after himself). He went to grab his brother’s laundry (again, during exams, Loki was king. That’s just how it worked) when he sniffed the air.

Thor had always had a keen nose.  _~~Sure, blame it on that~~. _ He picked up a pair of Loki’s panties, freshly cummed in. Black, lace, tiny bow on the top.

The next thing Thor knew he was back in his room, sucking on Loki’s panties and pumping his thick, veiny shaft quite violently. The entire bed shook as he neared orgasm. He gave a huge grunt that the people downstairs _probably_ heard, cumming so hard that some of it hit the door (that was an entire two and a half metres away, wtf!?).

He breathed coming down from his high. Panting, heavily, head laying back against his soft, cool cushion. A welcome reprieve from the heat running through his head at the moment. What a weird thing to do, that. He wasn’t in Rut, was he? No, that was two months away. There were always the odd hormone spikes, he supposed, infrequent but still possible. He got up, knot still swinging. A large disincentive for an Alpha to masturbate was that they were going to knot, even from just that. He pulled on his pants, hoping the knot would die down.

He supposed that it was time to do the laundry.  ~~ He wondered if Loki would smell him on his panties. ~~

.

In the middle of the night, a woman turned the key to her apartment. The living room was big and spacious, but mostly empty. The apartment was a one room bedroom, she could barely afford it, but she’d always valued freedom, and she figured she didn’t really need the extra money. She wasn’t looking to buy a house- that’d just tie her down to one area, and she was not about that.

The woman had light brown hair and a smile like a ray of sunlight. She’d recently finished her Doctorate in Astrophysics at the _University of fricking Cambridge_ , and had come down to London to work as a part-time-lecturer and research assistant at Imperial College London.

Oh, and her name was Jane Foster. **_The_** Jane Foster.


	25. Golddiggers

Laufey sat in his room stewing. It was a pretty big room, to be honest. An entire master suite all too himself. Sometimes he missed Farbauti and her warmth, then he remembered what a disgrace of a son she had laid upon him. An Omega, a **_male Omega_**! To this day it made his blood boil. How dare she!

There had been hope, at the very, _very_ beginning, that it was a female (but even then, a female Alpha? Who was he, a circus ringmaster?). Those hopes had been squashed near immediately when the doctor came in to tell him that it was a little boy (no knot at the base of the penis).

It had been like a chain of dominos falling from there. Farbauti, so enamoured with the little freak, had barely even noticed her husband plotting her murder. And what had happened then? The bloody assassin had refused to kill an infant. Really? You’ll kill a new mother but not a little Omega boy?

Laufey had had to dump the child in an orphanage himself. He figured it looked more realistic that way, that the baby had been kidnapped and the mother killed. A few bribes here and there, him calling mercenaries to drum up chaos throughout the city, and everyone in Iceland had completely forgotten about Farbauti’s murder. Laufey had made a public appearance, it had made headlines: _Father Surrenders: says trauma over missing child is too strong and will only hurt his remaining young children._

_Laufey Nalson: I’ve lost all hope_.

And then he just had to ‘adopt’ his freak show nephew. He smirked to himself. Revelling in his brother’s failure always brought a smile to his face. It was different, he supposed, with Jarnsaxa. At least it wasn’t his failure staring him in the face, it was his fuck-up of a brother’s. Laufey had _handled_ all of his mistakes.

And Freida wasn’t a bad fuck, Laufey would give her that.

And then, what do you know? Odin Borson wound up being the rat’s adoptive father.

Laufey still hadn’t managed to uncover the game that Odin was playing here. The man _had_ to have some sort of goal in all of this. For all that he may appear to be a sweet, kind old man, Laufey knew him better. Laufey knew him _first_ , before all of this. He knew the younger Odin, whose father had recently gone to jail for stealing money out of a pension fund. He knew the Odin who mercilessly evicted tenants in order to get the land on which he’d built his office. The one who had tipped off the police to land his brothers, Vili and Vé, in jail back when they were trying to contest their father’s will. The same one who had bankrupted every single other tech business in England back in the 60s through shady business schemes. The same one who had lit a match to burn down the police building in Birmingham back when his father was being investigated for fraud 30 years ago.

He knew that Odin knew by now. Of course he knew, he knew everything that went on, now didn’t he? That man was sitting up in Brimingham, in that nice, big house of his undoubtedly plotting. But plotting **_what_**!?

Should he wait? Should he reach out? Odin knew Laufey knew, surely he must. Should Laufey tell Helblindi and Byleistr? Those boys were gullible, they’d believe the first thing they heard. Look at Jarnsaxa: Laufey had told him that Loki essentially had the skills of a hacker under the employment of Scotland Yard, and the boy just bought it.

There was literally no evidence to prove that he was behind the murder. _None_. He’d burned it all decades ago, he’d have to come forward for them to have any proof. You couldn’t charge someone without evidence in a court of law. He supposed there could be a civil suit (which… how on earth were you allowed to have a civil suit for something as heinous as murder?! It still boggled him), but definitely not enough proof of anything to send him to jail.

He grabbed his phone. It wouldn’t do any harm to have someone keep their eyes on the boy, now would it?

.

Loki’s grades had made a marginal improvement. **_Marginal_**. His best hope at attaining a first (or a 2:1 since a first seemed a little bit unrealistic at this point) was to ace finals. Thank the Norns that the UK **_loved_** their final exams.

Thor **_still_** refused to address the elephant in the room whenever they were around each other. His brother would forever deny it, but Loki had noticed how uncomfortable Thor had become with nudity around Loki ever since that first night.

Loki had come to a conclusion after Leah. He wanted Thor. He wanted Thor no matter what it took. No more of this ‘tentative’ bullshit. No more ‘waiting for Thor to make the first move’. Loki had his own goddamned mouth, and you best believe he was going to say something!

He was just waiting for the right time, was all, he reasoned. No sense in having all the right words and popping them up out of the blue. It would be like sprouting the perfect eulogy as the casket was being buried into the ground- ahem, moment of silence, please. There was time for that later.

Loki and Brunnhilde were still, er, yeah around each other. She tended to walk a tentative two metres away from him at all times, unless they were somewhere public, in which case she was all over him. She drove him everywhere too, no Tube. Too risky, she’d insisted.

Loki _personally_ thought the danger was over. No AOOK symbols for an entire week (#Score) so they either found out about Leah dating Daimon or they moved onto some other poor, unfortunate Omega fellow. 

Noh-Varr was mated officially now, which was cool. He was mated to David, which was doubly cool. Loki was happy for them, really. So nice. Getting to be with the one you loved. No consequences. ~~At all.~~ ~~ Alright, so maybe it killed him a little on the inside, sue him. ~~

Even Verity had a girlfriend now, though she was being hush hush about it. Pssh, like Loki didn’t already know that it was that bartender from that horrible, horrible night. The pretty one, er, Sarah?… come to think of it, he didn’t think he asked for her name. But still, Loki had seen the way she’d swooned over the woman. That, right there, that was his OTP.

Anyways, back to getting his big idiot of a brother to admit his feelings for Loki. And yes, he could say that, because negative or positive, feelings were feelings. Strong or feeble, _feelings were feelings_!

He could always, you know, **_not_** wash his sexed sheets. Thor had a rather sensitive nose. If Loki were to masturbate on those sheets and leave the door open, well… maybe that would at the least provoke Thor into saying something. Even a ‘please close the door, your sent is making me uncomfortable’ would work.

And that’s exactly what Loki did. He got home early, let Brunnhilde go into _her_ room, grabbed a pair of Thor’s undies, put them on, and fingered himself till he came in them. The undies he’d have to wash, because, er, he wasn’t quite there yet with his ‘daring moves’, but the sheets? _Nah_! Loki just left the door open, shoved Thor’s underwear in Loki’s dirty linen basket (the scent of Loki ought to block out the scent of Thor in there) and went to the study nook to study (always nice to be able to look out of a window while you studied, fresh air and whatnot).

Loki jotted down notes about brain chemicals and smiled to himself when he heard the front door open. He heard Thor walk in. He felt a slight jolt in the back of his neck as he realised that there was always a third option. Thor might not confront him happily or positively, he might just chicken out. That would suit his brother, now wouldn’t it?

Maybe at dinner Thor would bring it up? Maybe Thor hadn’t even realised it had been left there as a trap for him? Maybe he thought Loki had just been absentminded as a result of his meds? Loki heard Thor’s door close. Drat! Loki’s left the bait right there and Thor had taken one look at it and taken a hard left turn. Loki would need to think more creatively, bigger was better under circumstances such as these.

.

Loki took his dildo and started to play with himself the moment Thor walked into the apartment. The walls of the apartment were _thin_. It didn’t take rocket science to figure out that Thor could probably hear the porn video that Loki was playing out loud, the one that he was masturbating to (was _that_ really what he was masturbating to? In truth, perhaps not).

He put his hand over his mouth to make it _sound_ muffled, but amplified the volume of his whimper to make sure Thor heard it. He could feel a presence somewhere outside of his door, good. But then, after a good hard pause, the presence started to move and Loki had no idea where it had disappeared to… and come to think of it- oh no… oh no, what if it was Brunnhilde? Oh, this would be so awkward tomorrow.

.

Jane was in her mother’s lab. Her mother was working on something to do with speech-related disorders and how certain parts of the brain affected one’s speech, whether it was possible to fix the speech of a child with no verbal skills.

“So, uhm. I know Loki interned here, over the summer a bit ago.” Jane brought up.

“Ah, Loki. Yes, he was here about a year and a half ago, Janey. Something on your mind?”

“No.” Jane said, defensive.

“Ah, I see, it’s some _one_. Oh, and he’s recently single.”

“Who?”

“Why, Thor of course, who else?”

Jane bit her lip. “Mother, Thor and I are done.”

“Are you? You’re here now, Janey, and you’re the only woman that man has ever truly loved. If you want him, go get him. He didn’t propose to you because you’re some two-bit whore, you know?”

“Thanks, mother.” Jane was _absolutely_ certain her mother wasn’t motivated by, oh, say Thor’s lengthy inheritance once his parents died or anything silly like that.

.

Odin gratefully accepted the cup of tea that Frigga had brought for him from downstairs. How could he not? His dear, beloved wife had taken the time and effort to go and make him something, so by the Norns he would enjoy it.

“Huginn, Munin, so nice to see you both.” The fifty-year-old woman bowed at the sight of the two men. Twins. They’d joined Odin’s forces as young boys with nowhere to go, they’d been working for the family for twenty-odd years, and in that time they had grown and filled out and shaped up to be some pretty wonderful young men.

“It is good to see you too, Frigga.” Huginn shook her hand, followed by Munin.

“What are you three chatting about?” She asked her husband.

“Oh, just business.” Odin replied offhandedly. She saw, she was not welcome in this chat. She smiled, nodded, and left the room.

“Your sons are alright.” Munin told Odin. “Heimdall is in Iceland, stationed as you wanted him. He hasn’t been able to find a single eye-witness that can place Laufey that night.”

“It seems.” Huginn said, continuing his brother’s dialect seamlessly, as though they were two beings talking from the same mouth. “That whatever Laufey did that night, he covered his tracks and he covered them well. Look at this.” He passed a newspaper clipping up to Odin, who read the heading and felt his eyebrows rise.

_30 Dead in the Reykjavik Riots._ Norns, he had known that the riots were bad (he was a quarter Icelandic, and his mother had lived there at the time), but **_30_ **dead _…_ wow.

“We believe that Mr. Nalson orchestrated those riots and planned those peoples’ murders in order to cover his tracks.” Munin eventually finished.

“Well of course, the timing is uncanny.” Odin rubbed his beard. “Good work, men, but we’ll need more on this.” This was not enough to get Laufey convicted of **_anything_**. All they had was a hunch now, the evidence was scant. Odin feared, deep down, that he wouldn’t even be able to bring Laufey to justice for his crimes.

_Though, if it came to it_ , Odin reasoned _, then Odin already had one piece of evidence to support his theory. One giant, walking, talking,_ **living** _piece of evidence._

He had Loki. And as long as he had Loki, as long as he could prove Laufey’s statements to either son (like Odin didn’t know about them, bitch please), Odin would be able to submit his data in before a court of law and seal that no-good-dirty-rotten bastard’s fate up for good.

This was the beginning of the end for Laufey Nalson. If only the bugger had just kept his feet in Iceland.

.

Laufey wound up putting Fenrir on the job. The man was like a bloodhound, he could sniff out anything.

“Keep an eye on Loki Odinson.” Laufey told the tall, olive-skinned, shaggy-black-haired man with the goatee. He wore a grey business suit, because _of course_ , Fenrir.

“You can count on me, boss.” Said Fenrir, loyal as ever. Fenrir was like a son to Laufey. Except that Laufey already had a son. Well, two. And Fenrir was both younger than the pair and more childlike, so really, more of a grandson. The point was that that young, hulking Alpha was like part of the family.

Come to think of it, maybe he ought to hire a PI to check out this girlfriend of Helblindi’s that Byleistr had told Laufey about. Always good to inspect the family gene pool before committing to anything serious.

.

Jane actually wound up running into Thor on the Tube. She was headed up to the north of London to visit a friend, coworker, and research partner, Dr Eric Selvig, and Thor was… well, Thor sometimes liked to hang around on the tube. He bought a monthly visitor’s pass every month for zones 1,2 and 3, after all, for the unlimited travel it got him. Might as well get his money’s worth, eh?

It was fate, really, that they wound up on the same carriage. Thor was listening to an Audiobook on cars (sue him) and Jane was reading a book on her Kindle about _chemistry_ (sue her). They were both opposite each other, seated. They didn’t even realise that the other was there until the train stopped and Jane moved to get up.

“Wh- **_Jane_**!?” Thor blinked, looking at his ex-fiancé up and down like she was some sort of alien relic left on the earth 9000 something years ago.

“Thor.” She breathed, moving towards him. The doors closed and the train carried on. “ _Crap_!” She cursed.

“Er, sorry. There’s always the next station.”

“Yeah, right. Er, it’s nice seeing you again.”

“Same!” The train came to a halt. Once more, Jane didn’t get off. Thor barely noticed. One second they were staring at one another, eyes locked. The next their faces couldn’t possibly be closer together.

They’d always been passionate, that pair.

.

Thor got home, smelling of roses and starlight. Loki was aroused. Thor placed his briefcase on the kitchen counter, his feet like he was gliding, his lips reddened.

Loki crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, a wry grin forming on his face. “Well, you look happy, Thor. Something happen?” He asked, half-expecting to hear of some poor, pathetic girl trying her luck flirting with his brother.

“She’s back.”

“What? Who?” Loki already didn’t like where this was going.

“Jane, Jane’s back.”

Loki swallowed a gulp. “Oh, uhm. Congratulations, brother.”

“I know.” The look of pure, unadulterated happiness shining across Thor’s face was enough to both break his heart and melt it at the same time. “Isn’t this amazing?”

“Yeah, uh, totally. So, what’s she doing back in London?” Loki tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

“Job at Imperial.”

“Ooh, fancy.”

“Yeah.” Thor said, too far gone into whatever fantasy land he was in (probably dreaming of a life with Jane and eight kids up in Norfolk or somewhere) to notice the tinge of jealousy that Loki had been unable to keep from his tone. “Yeah, this is… this is incredible.”

“Great. Good for you.” Loki nodded. He’d have to fight this, fight her if he must. Thor. Was. Loki’s. Dammit. “You swap numbers?” 

“We already had numbers.” Thor looked up at his brother. “Oh, this is just such a good day! Come here, let me give you a hug.”

“No, Thor! No, stoop!” Loki chuckled, squirming out of his brother’s grasp as though he were trying to fight Thor. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what an ‘accidental’ swipe of his hand across Thor’s crotch would do to the man. And he’d be able to brush it off as ‘trying to escape the hug’, that would leave Thor liable to any and all consequences as a result of Loki’s actions. if he had to play dirty, he would.

Loki had his eye on the prize. He wasn’t going to let go of Thor so easily this time. He wasn’t going to lose him. Not until he had it clear and dry from Thor, what Thor wanted. (Did Thor even know what Thor wanted?). He’d done his part, more than he needed to, and look at where it had gotten him. All the way back into Thor’s arms.

If that wasn’t a sign, then he personally really did not know what was.


	26. When everyone ELSE is pregnant

Fenrir hopped off the Tube at St James’s Park. The apartment Laufey had gotten him to rent was in Loki’s building (building name courtesy of Jarnsaxa).

He was staying on the ninth floor with the pair. A one bedroom apartment (apparently the building only had one and two bedroom apartments, but Odin had bought up like eight of them to make his super-apartment [Laufey said Odin had done this by causing brief financial disasters for the apartment owners and then offering to buy each apartment for double its listed value to seem nice]) with a cosy living room and a refurbished kitchen that had an island. He loved it, not bad for £1500 a month (Laufey was a billionaire-and-counting, trust Fenrir, the man could afford it).

He set his briefcase down, he had work to do. He opened it up and took out all of the listening equipment. He was in the apartment _right next to_ _Loki_ ’s, so what he was going to do was drill a hole in the wall (say it was to hang up a picture) and pop a recording device into it. Laufey did work for the military in Iceland, this technology wasn’t even out there yet. A wireless, bluetooth recorder that connected directly to his laptop, designed to turn on whenever there was noise in its observed direction. He’d be covering the wall with flaps so he could take the speakers out once a day (at 2 am) to charge it. And also he’d be putting multiple speakers in place, just because he wanted max coverage. He didn’t need to worry about the other side though, these recorders were **_powerful_**! 

The people downstairs were renting their apartments out as Airbnbs (wealthy people from Glasgow who could afford second homes, from what he’d uncovered), maybe he ought to tap the floors too. It would be problematic because the speakers would pick up all the footsteps… hmm, but he could always program the speakers to ignore the footsteps after the first recording of them.Iceware software let you do that.

The other thing he’d have to do was gain access to their apartment, and Fenrir already had a plan for that. Tonight he’d be inviting Loki, with his brother, to dinner. Except that to make this seem random, he had also had to invite the rest of the floor. So as soon as Fenrir was done setting all this up, he was going to be cooking a nice three-course meal for thirty-seven.

Sometimes being Laufey’s gofer was taxing, but it was always worth it to him. Laufey was like a father to him, except that Fenrir was significantly younger than Laufey’s other two sons (Fenrir had turned 18 back in January) and also, Laufey was a fair bit older than Fenrir’s own, deceased father… so he supposed that Laufey was more like a grandfather to him. 

Laufey’d taken Fenrir in back when Fenrir was 14, after his father had died and his mother (a second cousin of Freida’s) had been arrested for child abuse (well, neglect, but same difference). Laufey had come over to Freida’s house (Freida was at her wits end with him and Fenrir had no doubt in her mind that she was about to cast him out- in hindsight, he had been a rather difficult child, he’d bit Jarnsaxa like three times), taken one look at Fenrir, and offered him a job working for the company, and that was that. Fenrir still went over to Laufey’s house for dinner every last Sunday of the month. Laufey had said that he was ‘proud to have a good, hard-working Alpha around the house’. And for that Fenrir was eternally grateful. 

Fenrir grabbed the electric saw and started cutting out the panels. Worst-case scenario, Laufey wound up buying this apartment temporarily (the owner wanted to sell), they’d have nobody to answer to. The only problem with that was that if Fenrir was then caught, the onus was on Laufey because criminal happenings happened on _Laufey’s_ property.

Fenrir placed the recording devices inside the walls and used see-through tape to stick panels identical to the wall back on them. No, no. Too risky. He grabbed the big black tape and started making ‘x’s over the stuck on panels. There! If anybody asked, those were up so that he knew where to hang the pictures that were arriving in a few days… sticking pictures over these areas really wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

When it was all done, he had like seven hours to start cooking. He could do this, he could do this.

.

Loki spent the entire day thinking about Thor and Jane. Loki had to do **_something_**! With Jarnsaxa, Loki had known there was no chance from day one… but Thor had, once upon a time, gone so far as to propose to Jane… and she had said yes.

There was a dinner party Thor and he had been invited to. They’d looked at Brunnhilde apologetically, but she’d just laughed at them. She, apparently, wanted nothing more than to lounge around in a pair of boxer shorts and watch MMA with a few bottles of beer and some pulled pork. Urgh, it was like having two Thors.

Loki figured that it was opportunities like this that he had to seize. Ones where there were formal events and no Janes in sight. Loki highlighted his cheekbones to make them look even sharper, tied his hair back in a messy tiny bun (he’d decided to let it grow to his shoulders), put on his tux sans jacket (like he didn’t know that it made him look like sex on legs, psshhh), and tied his bowtie to perfection (hellooo diamond point). He even put on that watch that mother had gifted him for his eighteenth, the gold one with the diamond studs that made his wrist pop. The last step: he grabbed his burgundy lipstick, smeared it across his lips, grabbed a tissue paper, and dabbed at it until it was almost non-existent. **_Almost_** , non-existent. To give the appearance of redder lips. He looked stunning. He’s put a bit of his gold-flake primer on his skin to make it look like he was glowing.

Time to win Thor.

Oh, wait! He almost forgot! He put on a spritz of the perfume En Dwi had sent him for good luck!

.

Thor wore a suit and a red tie. He’d recently gotten a haircut, so his hair was pretty short (lol, they’s swapped) and his beard was gone (God, Loki thought, clean-shaven men were _such_ a turn on- though Loki supposed that Thor looked a _little_ better with a bit of stubble). He wore a nice, heady cologne that wasn’t as bad as most men’s colognes.

Thor sniffed the air when Loki walked in. What the-? Was his brother in pre-heat or something!? Thor’s dick went _straight up_ in his pants. Ought he say anything? Would that be a bit invasive? Oh well, if it was just pre-heat, he supposed that there was no real harm. Loki would have days before he went into _actual_ heat… huh, heat every month? That seemed a bit weird. Maybe it was just a weird flash, that would explain exactly why his brother smelled so goddamned **_delectable_**. Mmm, like Thor could just take a bite out of his… alright then. Thor coughed.

“Ready to go?”

“Ready.” Loki smiled back up at his brother. Huh, Loki looked really pretty. Good on Loki for trying to impress the new neighbour.

.

“Welcome!” Fenrir smiled as Loki and his brother, Thor, walked in. 

“Thanks for inviting us, Wolfgang!” Loki put on his best, dazzling smile. He knew a little about the neighbour, his name was Wolfgang, he was an Alpha… he was a **_he_** … yeah, that was everything he knew to be quite honest.

“It’s a pleasure! Honestly, it’s so nice to have people in the building who are Nordic too!”

“You’re Nordic?” Thor asked, intrigued.

“Well, **_half_** Nordic. My mother’s half Italian and half German, hence my name. My father’s danish, I grew up in Denmark.” The man chuckled. “Hence my accent.” This was a lie. His accent was _very much_ Icelandic, but he’d done enough digging to realise that these two had never been to Denmark, so they wouldn’t notice.

“So, Wolfgang, what do you do for a living?” Loki asked.

“Oh, I’m the Assistant Director of Marketing for Shelby’s.” Shelby’s was a chain of affordable hotels around the UK and western Europe (which Laufey had an eighty percent share in, but not many people knew about that). Loki and Thor’s brows lifted. 

“Wow, how old _are_ you!?” Loki asked in awe. The man had looked 25 at most.

“Twenty-two.” Fenrir lied easily.

“Woah, fresh out of Varsity.” Thor blinked. “Where did you study?”

_Somewhere that can’t easily be looked up._ “École hôtelière de Lausanne.” He smiled. Well-known and yet so full of notable alumni they’dn’t be able to locate him on any sheet of alumni.

“Woah, lmao, maybe I should drop out of UCL then.”

“Over my dead body.” Thor gripped Loki’s shoulder tightly. Loki smiled. It was unintentional, and yet it still brought added contact between the two of them. Now all that he had to do was stop himself from leaning in too much.

“Well, starters are out. I’ll be serving dinner in a few.” Fenrir grinned at the pair, making his way around the room and chatting with everyone. It wouldn’t do him good for the brothers to realise that Fenrir had an **_extra_** special interest in the pair.

Loki waved over an attractive female Alpha and her brown-haired Beta sister- Amora and Lorelei, Fenrir had already gotten to know them. Thor stood for a moment, surveilling the room before cracking a grin and going on to chat to a pair of Alphas (Steve and James “Bucky”).

There were thirty-seven people here, including himself. Four were families, and everyone else came in clusters (there were apartments (two) with eight people living in them for ‘university reasons’). 

“Amora, long time no see.” Loki flashed a grin. Lorelei had gotten evicted from her previous place of rent for throwing too many parties which ‘disturbed the neighbours’. Now she lived with big sis in Amora’s apartment on the ninth floor.

Amora was a television personality (who had gotten a huge leg up from her multimillionaire-Lord father when she was just 18 years old), who starred on a reality matchmaking tv show called Love Me At My Worst?, where contestants were given a questionnaire and were either matched with people who they were perfect for on paper, or matched with people they were pre-destined to hate. It was 8 seasons strong (and Loki’s Saturday-night -Thor’s-not-home binge, if he were honest with himself) and had racked the starlet a whopping £3,500,000 pounds thus far (she was both a paid host **_and_** an investor, given that she’d pitched the idea).

She had also once dated Thor. Briefly, before they realised the other was Alpha and what that even meant. Loki preferred not to think about it much, it tarnished the memory of a fellow troublemaker. 

“Loki!” She beamed, embracing her in a tight, warm hug against that full bosom of hers. “My, it has been a while, hasn’t it? Oh, look how you’ve grown! I remember you when you were still short!” She held her hand up, palm facing down, against where her nipple would be under that green spandex bodice of hers. Oh, how he missed his corset right now. “Lorelei’s seen you though, little sneak.”

“We have always been the spotlights of the party scene.” Loki smirked, placing an arm around both women’s waists cheekily. Oh, how he had missed causing mischief with the pair! There was that time that they had programmed Sif’s drone to attack her and Thor while they were on a date. That time that Loki had faked a love note from Victor to Ellarosa, and she’d scolded him in front of Loki and Lorelei’s entire year (they’d only been broken up for a week and Ellarosa had moved on. Perfect time, really). There was that guy who had a crush on Amora that Loki and Lorelei had made a bucket of punch fall on at a party (Loki was running with Leah back in those days, so **_yes_** he went to a lot of parties he was too young to be at). Oh, good times.

“Mmm, you smell good enough to _eat_!” Amora purred, making a nipping motion at Loki’s cheek. He brushed it off with a chuckle. Wow, En’s scent really seemed to be popular. “What is that on you?”

“La Sèduction, by-”

“Avarni Moreau! I had no idea you could even afford such high-end scents.” She teased. He knew she was teasing, she knew full-well that his father had a net-worthof £150 million something. “Mmm, it does suit you, I do hope that you continue wearing more of his scents.”

“Why, thank you!”

“So.” Lorelei cut into the conversation, having had finally snapped out of whatever daydream she’d been in (was she on drugs or something? Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time, that was for certain. “What’s the deal with the new guy?”

“Oooh, interested, are we?” Loki chuckled. “Well, he told us he was from Denmark- though his mother is a half German and a half Italian. Anyways, he’s super young and successful. He’s the Assistant Director of Marketing at **_Shelby’s_**.”

“Wait- as in the **_hotel chain_**!?” Lorelei guffawed.

“That exact one. And he’s only 22!”

“ ** _I’m_** 22! OMG, I am **_so_** going over there and saying hi!” Lorelei hurried over. Knowing her, she’d probably start by asking him something cheesy, like if she could help with anything? And then just slowly start sliding into his pants.

“He _is_ hot, I’m not gonna lie.” Amora hummed, twirling a lock of her golden hair.

“So, gonna have a go at him yourself?”

“Nah, too young for me. Loki, I’m 27. I prefer dating people… who are like 27- at _least_ 25!”

“I get you, I get you.” Loki chuckled. “So, how is the love life anyways? Are you still with Briar?”

“ _Tom_? Yeah, we’re still together.”

“Does he still smell weird?”

“Har har. What about you? Lorelei told me you mated with someone.”

“Big mistake there. Anyways, I _was_ seeing Leah for a bit.”

“Leah…?”

“Surtursdottir.”

“ ** _No_**!” Amora gasped, but her eyes lit up. She had always loved scandals. “What happened?”

“I broke up with her when Daimon came back into our lives.”

“Daimon? Daimon Hellstrom? Damn, now that’s one 22-year-old I wouldn’t mind spreading ‘em for.”

“He’s 23, actually.”

“Potato, poh-ta-toe, he’s still a kid. A smoking hot, fiery demon of a kid.” She licked her lips, oblivious as to how upset it made Loki to so much as _think_ of Daimon. “Anywho, how about Thor then?”

“Thor? Oh, he was seeing this guy, Jarnsaxa. They ended up breaking up, but _then_ Thor ran into Jane.” Loki did his absolute best to not sound jealous. He’d always been a good liar, so it wasn’t too hard.

“Jane? As in **_the_ **Jane? Jane Foster? The one he proposed to? The one who broke his heart by ending it so she could pursue her doctorate?”

“Yeah, that Jane.”

“Damn. Imagine running into someone you loved like that, all these years later. Must be fate.” Fuck you. _Fuck you_.

“Yeah, probably. I sure do hope they work out this time.” He was going to hell for all these lies, probably.

“Yeah. Would be nice, wouldn’t it? Your brother having kids- you’d get to be the cool uncle, you know? Lorelei’s been pestering me for a niece she can play dress up with… don’t tell anyone about this.” Amora leaned in and whispered. “I’m two months pregnant.”

“Woah- really!?” Loki jerked back. Loki wasn’t entirely surprised that Amora would end up being the pregnant one in her relationship with Tom Briar, given that Tom was a Beta and physically incapable of bearing offspring. But the two had only been dating for nine ye- oh yeah, he supposed that made sense. The real question was why weren’t they married yet.

“Yeah. It’s a little boy, I can feel it in my gut.”

“Congratulations are in order! And if you ever want to spend a night out, hit me up. I won’t drink.”

“That is very sweet of you, honey, but you don’t have to not drink on my expense.”

“Oh, no. Lol, I had alcohol poisoning a month ago and I’ve been hesitant to drink ever since. The doctor told me to lay off it for a while, I chose to wait until September.”

“Why? Are _you_ pregnant?” She teased.

“No, I take tests religiously.” He stuck his nose up in the air playfully.

The main course was served. Pasta, nice. How had Wolfgang managed to move here, unpack, _and_ cook a three course meal all in one day?! No wonder he was so successful, that man had _drive_.

“How’s your evening been?” Thor asked his brother. He had to admit, seeing Loki around Amora and Lorelei had set Thor on edge a bit. They’d all been friends, back when they were young, but Amora and Lorelei were cut from a different cloth to Thor and Loki. There were just things that they got up to that were inexcusable given the background that Thor and Loki had come from.

“Alright. Yours?”

“Pretty good.” Thor had relished the opportunity to spend some time with is good friends, Bucky and Steve. What a shame that the pair’s girlfriend, Peggy Carter, had decided not to come. But then, she was pregnant, so he could understand the desire not to go out late at night (“Three more months!” Bucky had chattered, excitedly). They were a good couple, those three. And Peggy was one lucky Omega to have two Alphas at her disposal during her heats (Thor had never asked how the pair had refrained from biting each other’s heads off whenever one fucked her during their heats- Thor remembered what it had felt like, that day in the bar when Loki had been sitting on that man’s lap. It had been downright excruciating, and they weren’t even mated yet!).

“Lorelei seems quite well-acquainted with the host.” Thor commented, having had chosen to seat himself near his brother as they ate. They’d all brought their own cutlery and plates. It had seemed the right thing to do when there were thirty-seven of you in total. This of course was an observation of the pair practically eating the pasta out of each other’s mouths.

“Yeah. I bet it doesn’t last more than a week.”

“How could you? I thought you two were friends.”

“Frenemies, Thor. Get on board with the lingo.” Loki scoffed, rolling his eyes, and unconsciously leaning his side into his brother a little. It had been a long night so far. Loki really just wanted Wolfgang to serve dessert quick so that they could leave. “She’s never had a relationship that lasted more than a week… well, except that dalliance with Sigurd, I suppose… I still ship it.”

“Of course you do.” Thor rolled his eyes, hand lazily playing with Loki’s hair.

Dessert was trifle, and then Thor and Loki left (third, they didn’t want to seem rude).

As soon as Thor was win his room, he pulled his pants down. He couldn’t explain it- Loki had just smelled _so good_ , it had made him super horny (maybe it was a heat-flash, like how Thor got rut-flashes sometimes?). Thor stripped his dick to the tune of Despacito and had a _very_ gratifying climax at the end of it.

.

“So, tell me, what have you learned about them?” Laufey prodded Fenrir.

“They’re close, those brothers. Maybe we can work that into our scheme?”

“Hmm, perhaps. So they said nothing to you about any surprise discoveries of Loki’s parentage?”

“No, nothing. Maybe if I invite them over a little more often?”

“Hmm, perhaps. Though I suppose it’s not truly what you’d open up to to a neighbour… earn their trust, that is all.”

“Of course.” Fenrir nodded. Laufey hung up.

So here was the most devious thing about Laufey’s relationship with Fenrir. About eighteen years ago Laufey had had an affair with a woman called Agnes, who was _married_ (she was the cheater in this affair, not him for a change). She’d had twins after that, Jormungandr and Fenrir. There’s no way to know for _certain_ if Fenrir was Laufey’s, but it was an open possibility, and Laufey wasn’t going to waste good money on a paternity test for fuck’s sake.

Jormungandr was… well, he was something else. He was born blind, and his family gave him up for adoption (Beta, so Laufey didn’t really care). Laufey had never heard about him again, nor had he seen him again. _Fenrir_ was with them, though.

Again. He might not even be Laufey’s. And even if he were, he’d be a bastard, poised to inherit nothing. 

So yes, when he’d seen the boy at Freida’s he’d offered him a series of jobs, you know, good potential-fathering.

The only thing that might screw Laufey over would be if Fenrir ever found out… but he has a good feeling that even if he did, Laufey’d be able to get him under his thumb again. Laufey was always good at keeping people under his thumb. And when they weren’t, he had them killed.

Just like that bloody policeman father of Fenrir’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That bit where Laufey talks about how he wasn't in the wrong for cheating because he wasn't the married one? Bitch if you know someone's married/in-a-relationship and you pursue a relationship with them regardless, you're still in the wrong. You're not AS WRONG as they are, but you're still in the wrong.


	27. Enter: Módi

Loki was still hard at work studying for finals. So here was the thing, right? Hypothetically, Thor being out of the apartment should have been a relief, enabling him to study more efficiently, right? But now that Loki knew Jane was back, he just sat there with his pen in his mouth, anxiously wondering what his brother was off doing with her.

_He had made Jarnsaxa and Thor break it off after Thor had slept with him… if he could do that now while Thor was with Jane, then surely Thor would come to the realisation that it simply wasn’t going to work- him with another person, that was. Then Thor would have to decide whether he was going to leave Loki forever or pursue a relationship with Loki. He couldn’t live without Loki, Thor had proven that. All Loki would have to do would be to present himself as needy and desperate and within a week or two of Thor breaking up with Jane (it had to happen, right?) he’d be where he belonged, in Thor’s arms_.

How was he going to get Thor to sleep with him? Heats were unpredictable, and he couldn’t entirely rule out that Jane might get hers before he did. If she did, she might get pregnant. If she got pregnant, Loki could just go on and throw away that whole ‘Thor can’t live without me’ notion, because Thor would have to.

He had to act quick. Hmmm… He reached for his phone. The Grandmaster had Beta Simulators… maybe he had some for Alphas? An Alpha Beta Simulator would just be pure Omega hormone. If Loki slathered enough of that around the apartment, then maybe it would drive Thor into a rut? If it didn’t, then maybe it might drive Loki into a heat or— **_of course_**!

For him to get a heat, he’d have to get in touch with his inner Omega, and what did Omegas do best? They _looked after the hearth and home_ , they **_took care of families_**!!! That was why they worshipped Hestia back in ancient times! They still did, in a few pockets, and there happened to be one temple to the Ancient Goddess located just three blocks away from UCL. They still left children there- babies whose mothers couldn’t care for them were deposited in baskets that the priestesses came to collect from every day. Loki would volunteer there and hopefully enough crying babies would trigger his heat! Even if it didn’t, the place was full of Omegas who probably had sage advice to give him.

Oh this was going to be so good!

.

“You must be Loki!” A woman with red hair beamed at him. She wore the standard brown robes all priestesses wore, but she had a purple belt around it. She must be the head priestess, Marsha.

“Yes, I am. You must be Marsha?” He smiled at her with that charming smile of his he’d spent half of his childhood practicing on his mother.

“Indeed! Wow, a male Omega, you must be a blessing from Hestia herself!” Funny, his birth didn’t feel like a blessing now that he was aware of the events surrounding it. “Come this way, the nursery is right here!” She led him into the building. It was a big, dome-like area, with steps leading up to a fire that burned in a great, big pot that if Loki had to guess was probably made of an alloy of copper and gold. “You know, the funny thing is that we **_just_** got a little male Omega in today, his name is Módi, we picked him up from behind a trash can, miracle we found him really… you know, it’s always a good thing to know whether you’ll be a good parent… but the way some of these children were found is heartbreaking.”

“Tell me about it. I’m an orphan, and… yeah, my family gave me up because…”

She looked him up and down. “You don’t have to say it dear. Most of the infants we find half-dead are either Omega Males or Alpha Females… I’ve never understood why anyone would throw away a child so rare.” She shook her head. “Even this little one, weak, barely half alive.”

She opened the door to the nursery. It was on the left of the temple, it was a small, square, yellow room filled to the brim with cots and crying babies. What was Loki doing here? He wasn’t even sure he was equipped to help with this. 

“Everyone, this is Loki! Say ‘hi Loki’.” Marsha commanded. 

The women, of which there were three, wearing identical brown robes (ouch- there were like forty babies in here!), all beamed at him and said “Hi Loki!” in-sync.

“This one’s Módi.” Marsha ushered him over to a small crib in a corner. There was a little baby in there, probably a month old, quite small. “We’re taking him to the doctor in the morning, but we can’t seem to spare a hand… any chance you could?” 

“Of course, of course.” Loki nodded, turning back to the little boy. His skin was… pale. It was really pale. There was no way he could be healthy. He reached a hand down to touch him but hesitated. “Anywhere I can wash my hands?” The little thing probably had no immunity.

“Right outside on the right, there’s a little wash basin.”

“Thank you.” He hurried out and lathered up his hands. “Happy birthday, to me! Happy birthday, to me! Happy _birth-daay to meee-eee_ , happy birthday to me… happy birthday, to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birth-day to _meeeeeeeee-e_ , happy birthday to me!” He rinsed off the soap and shook his hands dry.

He came back in, drawn to the cradle where Módi slept. He placed a hand on the little thing’s forehead to feel his temperature. It was **_hot_** , even taking in to account Loki’s generally cold hands. The little baby screwed up his nose and screamed. Loki jumped back. Marsha was there in seconds.

“Oh,” she soothed the baby, taking him in her arms and rocking him gently. “Sorry about that, Loki. He’s not very comfortable right now, anything could set him off.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll just go-”

“No, no, don’t be absurd! We like it when he cries, he’s so fragile right now that we don’t- well, we don’t really know if he’s even alive… sometimes, you know.” Loki could tell that this baby was distressing her. “Besides, you probably just startled him. Why don’t you get some formula and feed him? We’ve been trying to slowly get his body mass up.”

“Sure, Ms.” He went over to the feeding station and just full-on stared at the formulae… he had no idea what to do with any of this. A woman behind him chuckled.

“Here, let me help you. I’ll have to wash my hands though… we don’t know if he has an illness, see? He’s still quite new, and he _looks_ ill. We can’t risk spreading that over to the other infants.”

“Thanks, uh-”

“Yelena. I’m relatively new here too.” The blonde smiled at him, loading up his bottle with formula. “Good luck… I think he likes you.” She walked off.

“Come, Loki, let me show you how to do this.” Marsha said, passing the baby over to Loki. At least he knew how to hold one, he reasoned. Uncle Freyr had a daughter who was only 8, so he’d held her at times when she was young. “Just hold the bottle horizontally and let him control the pace. Yes, that’s it, good.” Marsha smiled. “He hasn’t been taking much milk from anyone, you know? I really think this baby likes you.” She smiled at him.

“He’s only been here since the morning though, you said.”

Marsha laughed. “You don’t like compliments, do you?”

“I’d actually call myself a bit of a peacock… I’m just nervous around kids.”

“I don’t blame you… if I have to be honest with you, this little tyke is probably going to die. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow the doctor says he has pneumonia.”

“Don’t say that.”

.

“I’d say he has pneumonia.” The doctor concluded. “He has all the symptoms: coughing, fever, tiredness, loss of appetite.”

“He’s also a baby who was just found behind a dumpster after having had not eaten for so long!”

“Mr. Odinson, you don’t need to worry much. He might still have a happy ending, he just needs to take antibiotics and get to a healthy weight… based on his signs of physical development, I’d age him at about six months.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I’m afraid it is very much possible, Mr. Odinson. This baby needs a lot of attention. We need to just about _double_ his mass, 4kgs for his age is a bit concerning…” the doctor looked at Loki, contemplatively. “It is worth noting that he seems calmer when you’re around. When I was running his tests he was fussy. I know this is a bit much to ask… but would you mind visiting him?”

“Of course! Of course!” Loki was desperate. This man couldn’t be right about little Módi. Loki didn’t even know why he was so attached to the little baby, but he really was. His wispy little blonde hair and his eyes which were blue but might change over time (Loki knew _that much_ about babies).

“Thank you, we don’t want the poor little thing to feel anxious.”

“Of course.”

.

“He can’t come back, not until they’re sure the pneumonia’s gone.” Marsha said over the phone. “Sorry Loki, he’d be a hazard to the other kids.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I could keep him at mine while we wait.”

“That would be super! Thanks, Loki!”

.

“Brother, you’ve barely touched your broccoli.” Thor commented. Brunnhilde sat watching them. She’d finished her dinner and put it in the sink already, man these two ate slow.

“I’m fine.” It was Brunnhilde’s last week with them, Odin had determined that the threat against Loki’s life had pretty much become non-existent once it was made public that Leah was with someone else. Loki was sad to see her go, but on the plus side there’d be no more of those cringe bro-moments between her and Thor. “May I be excused?”

“Certainly.” Thor expected Loki to head to his room, but instead his brother grabbed his coat and left. “That’s odd, isn’t it?”

“Hmmm… I think we should ask.” Brunnhilde agreed. **_Finally,_** something interesting was happening tonight.

.

It wasn’t like it was a secret or anything, so Loki had no trouble bringing Brunnhilde and Thor over to the PICU the next morning after his inquisitive brother inquired over his whereabouts the previous evening.

“That’s him.” Loki gestured to the little baby lying there. He was swaddled in a white blanket that was covered in large yellow, blue and gold stars. He’d gained a **_little_** weight over the last two days here (the doctor had happily told him that it was 100g).

“Oh, he's so precious.” Thor breathed, staring at the little thing. Brunnhilde had an unreadable look on her face.

“He’s so small.” she said, finally. “How old did you say he was again?”

“Six months. He's severely underweight.”

The little lamb opened his little eyes and stared at them. They all stared back. He closed his eyes again. 

A nurse came in, her black hair tied back in a bun. “Oh, you must be Loki!” She smiled at Thor.

“That’d be me.” He raised his own hand.

“Oh, uh, sorry about that." She blushed. 

“How’s he doing?"

“Well… he’s been sleeping a lot, which could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Coupled with his pneumonia… I’m afraid it’s probably a bad thing. We’ve been trying to get his weight up to at least 5 kgs by the end of this week, but we’re worried about the strain its putting on his organs. He was grumpy enough putting on that 100 grams this week… would you like to feed him, maybe? The doctor says he likes you.”

“Certainly.” Loki held out his hands as she sanitised them, before taking the proffered baby into his arms.

Thor silently gushed about how cute Loki looked with a little baby in his arms. His dick hardened. Not now, Alpha, calm down. This was not the place.

Loki took the bottle and sat in an armchair and fed the little baby boy. 5 by the end of the week, 5 by the end of the week. He willed the child to feel and absorb his aura. Get hungry baby. Oh, maybe Loki ought to bring drinks in a bottle with him every time he came here and suck on them to show the kid how he wanted him to do it. Whole bottle please, Módi. Loki burped him and gently rocked him back to sleep.

“Wow, you’re going to make a fantastic parent some day. What are you?”

“Omega.”

“Oh,” she smiled. “You and he are one in the same, I guess then. No wonder he seems so at ease around you…” she trailed off. “If he recovers, are you maybe going to consider filing for custody?”

“Wha-?”

“My brother isn’t even 23 yet, I’m afraid that that’s not possible.” Thor said, firmly. This was cute and all, and this little boy definitely deserved a loving environment, but Loki was as of yet unemployed- how the fuck was he going to provide for the child?

“Oh, I see then.” The lady nodded. Loki stared down at the baby in his arms.

“Now I _do_ wonder what’ll happen to him when he’s better. Many people abuse male Omegas…”

Thor sat quietly for a moment. “Maybe we could convince mother and father.”

“Not a bad idea.” Thor looked at the little baby, falling asleep in Loki’s arms. It was clear that he wanted to stay awake, little fighter.

Módi, hmm… that name was Norse, Thor knew. Módi meant ‘wrath’… well, whoever his parent was sure was wrath-inducing, Thor figured. _It meant ‘Brave’ in other sources… and this kid sure was brave_. Thor watched Loki swaddle the baby and excused himself so that he could go off to use the restroom super quick.

No sense trying to take the Tube home later on with a stiffy, eh?

.

Thor took Jane out that night to go and walk along the Thames and grab some street food. He loved the Thames at night, when one couldn’t give the river too much grief for its otherwise quite-ugly appearance.

“You seem awfully quiet.” His beautiful girlfriend smiled, walking closer into him and wrapping an arm around his waist, snuggling him. She wore a white cardigan and a red scarf around her neck. Her hair was tied back in a braid, so beautiful.

“Loki took me to the hospital to visit a baby he’s been looking after. Tiny little thing.”

“Oh… why’s the baby in the hospital? I didn’t know Loki wanted to be a nurse?” So many questions she had about the words that had left Thor’s mouth.

“No, no, he volunteers at a nursery for orphans. Anyways, the kid has **_pneumonia_**. He was abandoned by his family for being an Omega.”

“Same as Loki… oh poor thing, do they connect well?”

“Yeah. The kid’s really attached to him… anyways, I can’t stop thinking about the kid. He was so skinny and sick… I just don’t understand how people can abandon their children- _anyone’s_ children, really- like that. Just put them behind a dumpster and hope for the best.”

“Oh, that sounds awful… but you know, a lot of times mothers in this situation are truly desperate.”

“Then why not leave the child in one of the baby bins?”

“Maybe they were scared that they’d be seen leaving the child and tracked down? I don’t know.” Jane shrugged her arms off-handedly. “Anyways, how’s work?”

“Good.”

“Jarnsaxa still giving you the cold shoulder?” She teased. Thor had explained the situation to her in its entirety. She had never pegged Thor as a cheater, but… let’s just say she’d wound up running into Jarnsaxa, and, uhm, she got it. As long as he never cheated on her, anyways.

“Yeah, nothing’s changed on that front. What about you? Angela still flirting with you?”

“Yeah, lol… she doesn’t seem to understand that I’ve already got a blonde air-head in my life.” Jane teased as she leaned up to kiss Thor’s cheek. He chuckled at her words. Jane used to refer to him as her Jock at university, because he played _all_ the sports. **_All of them_**. Whether he was part of the society or just there for a quick round of fun. He’d even done that one with her- night climbers or something like that, where they scaled the library. Glad to see nothing had changed between them.

But he’d have to keep pressing. He wanted to know whether or not it was too soon to propose to her again, whether she’d accept it or not? Because the past three years without her had been **_hell_**. Jane was Thor’s staple, Jane was Thor’s rock. 

Thor _needed_ Jane.


	28. Lady Macbeth

Loki was in and out of that hospital every single day. It had been a week and Módi had managed to put on a whopping kilogram! The doctors warned that it was putting stress on the baby’s body, but Loki also knew that having pneumonia and being underweight was practically a death sentence.

Thor went with him often, because Loki was ‘forgetting to eat’ and Thor was ‘worried about him’.

“If he has pneumonia, won’t you probably catch it too?”

“Who the fuck cares, Thor!?”

Módi coughed a lot, that was something that had started around the fourth day. His fever refused to die down, every bit stubborn as the boy it was attached to. The doctors worried about brain damage and organ failure. Loki worried more about him crying, and so he sat with the little baby in that arm chair, rocking him back and forth until he fell asleep every day. His miserable little face would forever embed itself into Loki’s memory.

Loki was so glued to the little baby’s side that he wasn’t there to see Brunnhilde depart (though she did stop by to give him a hug and say something cryptic (‘I get it… I just hope you do too’ whatever that meant)).

The turning point came on the Wednesday after Módi had been put into the hospital. Loki was on his way there when he received a phone call. “His pneumonia has gotten worse… he’s vomiting up all the food he’d been given- and he doesn’t exactly have all that much room to refuse food given his weight… you’ll need to come quickly, he might die soon.”

Loki didn’t even realise how he got there, but he did, he got to the hospital very quickly (probably by foot or he hitched a ride or something- no, that one didn’t make sense, London was notoriously difficult to drive through).

He got his tag and hurried down to Módi’s unit to find a half a dozen nurses standing over the fussy baby. Loki got there and Módi opened his eyes, those big, beautiful, blue little eyes. Loki could see he was struggling to do so, fighting. He lifted one semi-grubby little hand out, like he wanted to reach out for Loki. 

Loki, in tears, grabbed the little boy as the nurses made way for him. He knew it had to be bad because they were crying too. The soft, warm, unnervingly-light weight of Módi was placed safe in his arms, the little baby boy held close up to his face (damn the stupid disease to bits! He was up to date on all of his bloody fucking vaccines).

Módi died at 16:08:03 that day.

Thor was there crying too.

.

“Loooooooooooooooki, you’ve got to eat.” Thor said, half-heartedly. All the fight had left him four hours ago.

Loki had called him around 2pm to tell him that Módi was dyinig, Thor had rushed right over. Thor had, in all honesty, expected Módi to die the previous week, but when he hadn’t, Thor had genuinely started to believe that the little slugger might live and make a full recovery. He was gaining weight, everything was going well… what had gone wrong?

“’m not hungry.” Neither was Thor, to be honest. Who would be at this point in time? Thor had DMed Brunnhilde shortly after the death, and Jane who had been to see the little baby once.

Anyways, the point was that Thor wasn’t hungry, but because he didn’t want to let grief overcome him, he was going to force himself to eat **_something_** , and because his little brother had **_just_** recovered from an eating disorder, Loki best believe he was going to be forced to eat **_something_** too, or else Thor would call their mother and tell on him.

Even his jokes weren’t funny anymore. Nothing was funny.

Loki eventually let Thor into his room. Thor sat on Loki’s bed and carded his brother’s hair.

“Why does life have to be so unfair?” Loki exhaled tiredly, his throat felt heavy and hoarse (he hadn’t screamed or anything, which was why the hoarse bit felt a little odd. Scratchy, really).

“I don’t know that it’s all completely unfair.” Thor said, softly, his head hurting. He ought to have drunk a big glass of water when they’d gotten back, but he didn’t, and now his head pounded as he spoke. “That could have easily been you as a baby… Iceland’s even colder than London.”

“This isn’t the time, Thor… he was so little.” Loki made motions with his hands, cradling motions, it broke Thor’s heart. _His mate was in mourning…_ wait that came out wrong… stupid biology.

“I know he was little… I still remember how he used to look at you, like you were the sun and the moon combined… the smoon… now come on and eat. If he were alive, I don’t think he’d want you to starve.”

“He was a baby, Thor. Not mother…”

“I can get you yoghurt. You don’t want to dehydrate now.” Neither did Thor, he could actually go for some water.

“I really thought he was going to live.” Loki broke out into sad, pathetic little sobs once more. “Oh- he gripped my hand yesterday, it was so tight.”

“He was such a happy baby, the week he had you for.”

“And now all I can think about was him struggling to keep his eyes open!” Snot rolled down Loki’s chin, is cheeks were flush. For the Love of **_God_** Thor hoped that Loki hadn’t contracted the baby’s pneumonia. He knew his brother was vaccinated, but didn’t you need to get that shot like 3 times in your life or something? Maybe it was less effective by now? Maybe the pneumonia Módi had was a new strain? You never really knew with infectious diseases, now did you?

Thor brought his brother up for a hug and pressed a kiss to Loki’s forehead. “I’ve spoken with the hospital, they said that since Módi has no legal guardian, it's up to us to bury the body. You can say goodbye to him properly. Write him a little note, put it next to him, and we’ll give him a Viking-style funeral.”

“Those are for warriors, people who’ve died in battle.”

“Loki, a six month old malnourished baby almost survived pneumonia… if he’s not a warrior, I’m not sure anybody truly deserves that title.”

.

To date, Loki still has no clue how they got permission to do this (sometimes it paid to have a rich father, he supposed), but they drove to the outskirts of London and placed Módi in his little boat with a love letter from Loki, and set the boat on fire.

Brunnhilde was in attendance, Jane couldn’t make it (Loki didn’t want her there so he was grateful for it). Frigga, Odin, Heimdall, Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, Amora, Lorelei, Verity, David, Peter, Kate, Noh-Varr, and even Marsha herself, all came to pay their respects to the little boy.

Loki cried the whole way home.

.

Loki _really_ couldn’t find the motivation to study. Not now. He still volunteered-ish… but it seemed that Marsha had noticed that Loki wasn’t coping well after Módi, because one day she told him that it was okay if he never wanted to come back, and that nobody would blame him.

He didn’t. Go back, that was.

He took out his phone in desperation. His life was crumbling- falling apart at the seams.

“Hello?”

“En, I have a favour to ask of you.”

.

So **_apparently_** that perfume that seemed to make all the Alphas go crazy around him? La Sèduction? Apparently that was Omega hormone. Apparently En really _had_ had his back this whole entire time.

Neat.

He’d have to put it on waaay before Thor smelt him if he wanted the change in his scent to be subtle. And so Loki decided to douse himself in it every morning before going off on a run.

A hundred or so Alphas were just going to have to deal with their boners themselves every morning, Loki was going for the gold.

Thor was right. Life was cruel- and yet it had not been nearly as cruel as it could have to Loki. Loki could have been Módi, the little baby boy who had died from pneumonia, but he hadn’t. Somehow, for some reason, the universe wanted him to survive- it wanted him to _thrive_ , and he was **_so_** going to do it!

He got home panting and had a shower. The combination of sweat and water would _surely_ wash most of the smell off of him, leaving little but a pleasant undertone. It was best that Thor didn’t think too much about the smell when he smelled him. The sheer deception alone might put Thor off for good.

.

“Mmm,” Thor nearly choked on his toast when Loki greeted him in the morning. His brother had entered and _poof_ , Thor had gotten an erection just like that. Weird, he didn’t think he was happy enough for erections anymore. (Thor had, in all honesty, nearly gone goth after Módi. Loki was right, the world was shit).

“Thor, I’m going out with Verity and the others tonight, if I’m not home by nine you can call, okay bye!” Loki just swooped out of the kitchen, grabbing all of Thor’s bacon in his hand.

Fucking Gen-Zs…

.

Thor took Jane out to a fancy sushi bar that night. It was outdoors, and the moon spent the entire night shining on Jane’s hair. God, she was like a picture fresh from a fairytale. She was the beautiful princess, and he the shining knight.

“So, tell me a bit about your research. Physics major to physics major.”

“Well, we’re currently analysing space to search for the Einstein Rosen Bridge.”

They spent the next hour talking about physics-y stuff that is too complicated for your dear author to even fathom (stick to engineering, kids, it’s mostly maths I’m told).

It was a nice evening, a pleasant evening, the type of evening Thor could imagine having for the rest of his life. 

_Don’t be too forward, that’s what chased her away last time. Don’t propose until at LEAST the end of March- that’s in like three weeks!_

_._

Loki happened to get home before Thor, so he took a small cloth, dabbed it in perfume, rinsed it, boiled it with garlic to reduce the intensity of the smell, then dabbed the underside of Thor’s bed with it.

Let’s see how Thor liked _that!_

_._

Thor twisted and turned once REM had taken a hold of him. 

It was another sex dream. He supposed that since it was nearing his next rut (just a month and a half away) he was feeling a bit libidinous, and he had also **not** slept with Jane after their date. Plus, he figured, his brain did, technically, think he had a mate, even though Loki wasn’t _really_ his mate.

_Loki was dressed in panties and stockings and heels, a sight to die for. Then again, he supposed, Loki could make garbage bags look couture._

_Thor had just come home from work. Hastily he undid his tie so that he could partake in the fruits of whatever his mate was offering. Loki, sensing his urgency, opted lie back and slip a finger beneath his panties._

_Loki’s little cock stuck out the top of the panties. Thor did not need to do any imagining of that aspect of his brother’s anatomy, he was well-acquainted with Loki’s cock._

_Thor quickly ripped off the rest of his clothes. Before pouncing down to suck on Loki’s neck, biting down to reclaim his mate, like any_ **_good_ ** _Alpha did every few months or so. He slipped his hands under Loki’s panties and joined Loki in fingering his cunt. His fingers were bigger, which was probably why Loki removed his hand._

_Loki held on as Thor replaced his fingers with his penis and started to fuck into Loki._

_Oh this felt so good, so warm, so-_

Like fingers. Oh, Thor was fucking his hand. He jolted up, awake, breathing heavily as his heart went from nighttime mode to daytime mode. His alarm had gone off, he cursed, turning it off. He’d been about to cum.

He hopped into the shower and dealt with himself there. He **_hated_** having to clean cum from sheets.

Yay, time for another long day with a passive-aggressive blonde and his new, smug boyfriend. Well, new smug boyfriend. Jarnsaxa had ended it with Branson and had moved onto Davidson. He sure liked his men Norse, lmao.

In hindsight, he doesn’t think the breakup had been a bad call. Being exposed to the non-friendly side of Jarnsaxa… no thanks. Had they continued, there would have been ups and downs in their relationships, and Thor wasn’t entirely certain he’d be able to handle these kinds of downs.

_._

_“_ Fenrir!” Jarnsaxa greeted, walking into the man’s apartment. “How goes my uncle’s work?”

“Fairly well.” The teenager beamed. “I’ve uncovered nothing as of yet, no important phone calls or anything of the like, but I will keep you informed.” Fenrir was also privy to what Jarnsaxa knew of this. That was alright, Fenrir knew how to keep a secret. He’d been working for Laufey as an informant for quite a fair while now.

Jarnsaxa didn’t know what his uncle saw in Fenrir, other than that he was an Alpha. He was a scruffy kid who had a penchant for suits. Jarnsaxa was **_much_** smarter than him and probably would have uncovered _actual_ evidence by now. Oh well, whatever, right?

“I’ve come to drop off a case from my uncle. Fare well.” The case had come with a number lock and two military-grade padlocks. Jarnsaxa hadn’t managed to break into it.

Stupid Fenrir.

.

Loki’s grades had just started to pick back up. He swore this rollercoaster his grades were taking was baffling his academic advisor, but she did a good job at not showing it.

Thor was, at the moment, trying to stuff Loki full of pork. Apparently it would liven him up. Thor had been spoiling him ever since Módi’s unfortunate passing, being as nice to him as possible. He probably thought Loki was still in mourning (was Loki still in mourning? He hadn’t cried all that much since the funeral. He had been unable to go back to the temple, sure, but that was natural, wasn’t it?)

Anyways, Thor was out **_again_** with Jane. It made his blood boil, but it was OK. Loki had a plan, all he had to do was stick to said plan, and everything would be fine.

Step two of his plan: use his own slick. It was full of hormones, right? En had told him how they collected hormones from Omegas- they used their slick and sweat (the sweat was more potent, but, again, Loki didn’t want to be discovered. Loki planned to masturbate, take his slick-dampened sheets, smush Thor’s underwear against them, and then let everything air to make it fainter.

He ought to be studying instead, but- meh. It was his final bachelor year, he wouldn’t be allowed to pursue his masters without at least a 2:1, but really, who cared anyways? 

Loki had wanted this since he was a kid. Loki had wanted **_Thor_** since he was a kid. And Thor might not realise it, but somewhere down the line he had started wanting Loki back. He had to have, right? **_Right_**? Surely not every nice, loving thing that Thor had done for him had been brotherly? Maybe he was going insane, maybe this was his way of coping with his grief over Módi, but whatever it is he was going to fix it. He was going to fix this blemish in his life once and for all.

And so what if Thor _didn’t_ want him!? Let him tell him that to his face, dammit! No more of that whole ‘we’re brothers’ bullshit. They weren’t related where it counted. Loki could handle it if Thor said ‘I’m not into you’ or ‘I like blondes’ **_something of that nature_** , but ‘we’re brothers’ was one hell of a weak excuse when they’d known their whole lives that they weren’t. When Thor was absent for a large part of Loki’s childhood. When they had both spent the first five years of their lives together listed under different parents before their parents even remembered to change it. When Thor had known the whole damned time just exactly _who_ Loki’s real parents were.

Loki went to his room and fingered himself, thinking of happy thoughts. He thought of Thor, and how it felt to have him fuck him (again, no need to make up anything there). During his heat, there had been two main styles to Thor’s fucking. The one that was mostly carnal, undoubtedly fuelled by their biology: Where Thor basically all-but-plastered himself to Loki and thrust hard, sharp, deep and fast into him. You know, the dutiful kind an animal might do to breed its bitch.

The second was more tender, and loving. Lots of kisses and holding. Hand holding too, OMG.

Loki fingered himself to the first one. He kept the base of his palm plastered against his cock and kept his fingers mostly in. He tried to find his g-spot (this would be so much easier if he were a women, weren’t their g-spots located right behind their-? Ah, found it!). Within a minute he was panting and writhing on his bed, eyes closed.

_Oh imagine if Thor caught him doing this, moaning Thor’s name as he imagined his brother taking him. Ohh, Thor would be furious… maybe he’d whip him with his belt_?

Loki squirted onto the sheets. He avoided cumming, as he didn’t want the male smell tainting what was generally considered a feminine hormone.

He went and grabbed some of Thor’s underwear and rubbed it all over himself and the sheets. Then he rinsed it in water and put it in the dryer.

Hehe, Thor would never know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like at this point I should explain:
> 
> Loki's not trying to make Thor fall in love with him using his scent and stuff. You can't do that, love potions aren't a thing. However, these hormones will make Thor AROUSED, and Loki's trying to get him aroused enough that he might admit his feelings. Not a great plan, by any margin, and DEFINITELY manipulation, but... hey, that's Loki 🤷🏻♀️ Just TRY and convince me otherwise.


	29. Sins of the Father

Thor really couldn’t understand why he was getting weird erections everywhere that he went.

It was like he just put on his clothes and: _poof! Erection!_

So weird, really. He was also super horny all the time… well, that wasn’t entirely true, he supposed. He wasn’t super horny _outside_ of the apartment. He didn’t want to fuck his chair and table lamp at work. He didn’t want to bury his dick in the Thames or anything (then again, he didn’t want to bury his foot in it either… he wasn’t too sure how clean that thing was).

So he wound up having sex with Jane. Lots of steamy, hot sex. It was gratifying and took his mind off of things.

They had sex in the shower. On her bed. In _his_ bed. On the kitchen table in his apartment. On the kitchen island in his apartment. On the Island in her apartment. On the washing machine in her apartment. On the floor of his bedroom. You name it, they did it.

Thor walked in after a long day of work, sweaty and exhausted. It was the end of March, sure enough, but Thor had decided to put off proposing for another month. All Jane and him had done for the last three weeks was fuck. He didn’t want her to think that that was all that he saw her as. No, he’d do right by her, he really would. He was gonna move her in, treat her right, **_then_** propose.

“Hey, Lokes!” Thor said, a lollipop sticking out of his mouth (Janice’s birthday at work- she alongside the people on his floor had generally forgiven him for the whole Jarnsaxa debacle. Heck, they sometimes gossiped about the man. Thor felt bad, of course, but… as he had said, Jarnsaxa was a bit of a nightmare nowadays).

“Hi Thor!” Loki smiled back at his brother. He was quite upbeat, well good for him! Loki stood in front of he stove (never a good idea, Thor had done all of the cooking since Loki had moved in for a reason) with an apron on (amateur alert) making… something.

“What are you cooking?” Thor asked, eyeing the vegetables.

“Broth.”

“Aaahhh…” Um, okay? “Uh, Loki, wave at me for a second?”

“Um, sure.” Loki waved his right hand at his brother. Odd, no sign of blood.

“Er, now your right.”

“ ** _Why_**!?”

“No reason. Just do it.”

“Developing a hand fetish, are we?” Thor hated that damned wink his brother sent him. Loki seemed to sense Thor’s mood because he went ahead and did it. No blood on that one either, interesting.

“Was Verity over?”

“Why?”

“No reason.”

“You sure do say that a lot.” Loki finally noticed his lollipop. “Awww, you didn’t get _me_ one?”

“Oh, sorry Loki, friend’s birthday. We’ll get you one tomorrow.”

“You better.” Loki went back to making his… soup.

Thor reasoned it wouldn’t be too illogical of him to check on Loki again in thirty minutes.

.

Five minutes later, Thor tentatively stepped into the kitchen. He took a sniff, nothing seemed to have burnt yet.

“Thor, did you forget something?” Loki asked finally, after five more minutes of his brother hovering over him.

“No, nope. I’m fine.” Thor said. “Just wanted a glass of water is all.”

“Then _get one_.”

“Fine. So much for spending time together!”

“You just said-” Thor grabbed the water and left in a hurry. Better an angry Loki than an upset one, and he knew deep down that his brother would be _devastated_ if he were to discover that Thor didn’t trust him to cook without burning down their entire building (would their insurance cover that? He ought to check).

.

Eight minutes later, Thor heard Loki’s bedroom door shut.

_What the fuck!? Loki left the food unattended!? There was no way that it could be safe!_ Thor raced out into the kitchen. Yup, the stove was on.

Thor rushed to turn the stove off before the whole apartment burned down and all of a sudden Loki’s door opened.

“Ah ha! I knew you were spying on me! What gives?!”

“Nothing! Nothing gives! I simply do not want this entire apartment to erupt into flames!” Thor shot back. At Loki’s unimpressed look, Thor reminded Loki, “Do you remember that one Christmas when you wanted to make duck?”

“Oh, that was _eight years ago_! Let it go, Thor! I’m a grown man!”

“I’m talking about the incident **_two_** years ago, Loki! You inhaled so much smoke you almost passed out!”

“How did you even know about that!? We weren’t in contact back- **_mother_**.”

“Yes, Loki, **_mother_**! Mother tells me everything. We are very close, mother and I.”

“Right.” Loki scoffed, rolling his eyes and trying to hide his jealousy. **_He_** was very close with mother, not Thor. “Anyways, that doesn’t mean that I can’t make bone broth on my own, Thor.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“ ** _No_**!”

The bickering continued for close to an hour, during which Loki had turned on the stove and the soup had cooked itself. “See, all good.” Loki said, triumphantly.

Thor put a teaspoon in the soup and tried some. He smiled. It was disgusting. “Not bad.” He said approvingly. He was going to be ordering takeout tonight. He had no idea why Loki had chosen **_now_** to start cooking.

.

Thor walked into work, and there was Mandy gossiping as usual with Jarnsaxa. No doubt about him. Ugh, **_blondes_** … wait a second.

“Thor, how was your date with Jane last night?” Sif asked her friend. Oh yeah, **_someone_** at the firm had convinced Stevenson (their boss) to poach Sif. Wonder who. (Him, it was him. Entirely Thor’s idea, and **_man_** had it already paid off- they’d increased their profit margin by 2% since they’d hired her as their bookkeeper).

“It was fine. I’m perpetually horny though.” Thor muttered. It was driving him insane. It was like the air was a fucking aphrodisiac or something… oh, depriving himself of oxygen might be a bad idea, he didn’t really know if he was into that… he didn’t **_think_** he was, but hey, don’t knock it till you try it.

“Careful or I might have to call HR.” Sif teased, poking his cheek. She was more formal at work, but still the same old loveable Sif that Thor had adored since they’d played together as children.

“Ha. Ha. How’s the morning sickness?” Sif was pregnant with twins. It was still too early to know what the genders were, but Sif was adamant that it was a boy and a girl. Aww, wouldn’t that be cute? A little Sif and a little girl.  ~~ He didn’t dare try that joke out on her. ~~

“Bearable… it’ll all be worth it when the babies are born.” She wasn’t showing yet but she would be soon. **_Twins_** , wow. That still amazed Thor… though Loki often joked that Thor was so huge that he probably ate a temporary twin he was locked in with in the womb. Ha ha… thank _God_ Thor had nobody to ask if that were true. Well, not _really_ a thanks to God, given that it had cost him a mother and two loving grandparents… sometimes he missed his mother.

“And Hogun? How’s he doing?” Hogun was **_also_** pregnant with Fandral’s baby. Wow, three kids. Not bad Fan-Fan. And here was Thor, thinking 26-turning-27 was a bit young to be starting a family. Well, given that he didn’t have to pay rent, he supposed he could afford it… but could he really though? Weren’t kids like £20000 a year or something stupid like that? And what about school? He could send them to State Schools, but if those weren’t good fits for the kid he might need to be able to pay for private, of which he most **_definitely_** couldn’t afford.

“Well, he’s a month further along than I am. Fandral is **_thankfully_** all over him, because with the twins I’m carrying I could not **_stand_** another person being close to me.” She shuddered. Sif had flares of ‘I need personal space’ that would pop up randomly. It was one of the reasons she and Thor hadn’t worked out- he was a _hugger_! “How’s the brother? The last I saw him he was mourning Módi.”

“He’s better now. I guess he only really knew that baby for a week, so there wasn’t much to really mourn. Still sad though.”

“Yeah. I can understand how it would fuck with him. I mean, **_he_** was cast out of his family for being an Omega male… people can be so backwards sometimes.” Sif bit her tongue. “I’m not even a mother yet, but when these little thingies swimming around in me are born, whether they’re Alpha Females or Omega Males or something in the middle, I can’t even begin to imagine loving them any less just because of their secondary sex.”

“Same with me and Jane’s kids.” Sif stayed silent on the matter. Psh, like she didn’t know. “Anyways, enough about _my_ brother, how’s **_your_** brother?”

“Heimdall’s repping Odin at a function in Switzerland right now while your father deals with a mini-crisis within the company. Spoiler alert, whatever he’s dealing with is **_huge_**. It’s got your father all worked up.”

“That’s… odd.” Thor supposed that he hadn’t talked to his father in a while. He ought to maybe give his father a call. “Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem… I could really use some ice cream right now… God I hate these weird food cravings.”

“I’ll get you one at lunch. We could go to that little gelato place down the road.”

“Oooh! The one with the boba!?”

“Yeah, that one. We can get some lunch there later.” He bid his friend farewell. It was time to start one long, boring day at work.

.

When Thor got home he checked his phone to see that he’d gotten three missed calls. Odd. He then took note that they were all from Brunnhilde, who had gone back to work as a security guard at Asgard Tech two weeks prior.

“Hello?” Thor greeted once she picked up.

“Thor… Thor we’ve got to talk.” Brunnhilde sounded anxious. Oh no, was this about that thing that Sif had been talking about earlier?

“I’m on my way. Where should I meet you?”

.

Thor travelled all the way to Manchester to meet up with Brunnhilde. She hadn’t wanted to do it in Birmingham, and she’d said that nearby Oxford was off-limits too (well, not **_nearby_** but somewhat in between them both). She hadn’t _elaborated on it_ , but he’d sensed not to question her. Something was up and he was curious as to what it was.

“What is it?” He asked, walking into the hotel room she’d booked. It was a pay as you stay hotel, this wasn’t going to take longer than an hour. The furniture was rather… uh, **_freaky_** , but he supposed that that was what you paid for when you stayed at such places. These _were_ mostly sex hotels, after all.

“This.” Brunnhilde shoved a folder into his hands. “A… situation has erupted at your father’s company. This file will brief you on everything that you need to know. I hope that you and your brother stay safe, but I need to go **_now_** before my absence is noted.”

“Wait- what? Brunnhilde, what **_is_** this!?”

“Let’s just say that you’re going to need to be strong and- even when the road looks dark, Thor, trust your father, and remember that he’s reformed himself quite a bit over the years. He wasn’t always the ray of sunshine he is now, there was a before and an after, and I am **_glad_** for the after.” And then she slammed the door and walked out of there quickly. 

_Odinskin_ , the file read, in big red letters. Hmm. He thought to open it but decided to just shove it into his satchel. If the content was upsetting enough he wouldn’t have a clear head, and he had to take a train all the way back to London right now.

.

“What’s this?” Loki asked, innocently but worried. God, Thor loved that lost little doe look his brother wore so well. The one where his open hair made him look so tiny and fragile, absolutely adorable!

“Brunnhilde passed these to me in a secret information-leak type thingy.”

“Oh. Well, are you going to open it?” Of course that was Loki’s first response. Always a prier that one.

“Always so impatient.” Thor took the pages out of the thick folder. _Odinskin_ , what could that mean? Was it information on him and Loki and Frigga? Maybe some dark secrets about Uncle Vili and Uncle Ve? They’d just up and disappeared some time ago, Thor hadn’t seen them since he was a little kid, maybe eight or nine.

_Date of Birth: 09/04/1990_

_Name: Hela Odinsdottir_

Wait- **_what_**!? Thor re-read the name. _‘Hela Odinsdottir_ ’… probably a coincidence, right? Hela was the name of Leah’s sister, the spitting image of their mother, after all. She was _Surtur’s_ daughter, not-not Odin’s… sure, the girl in the file was **_clearly_** their Hela, but… no, right?

“Woah- is that. What the-?” Loki breathed, sounding every bit as shocked as Thor felt. But wait, there was more.

_Date of Birth: 14/01/1995_

_Name: Baldr Odinson_

A photo of a pudgy little blond boy, followed by a few more photos. This boy… was this boy his brother.

_Date of Birth: 15/02/1991_

_Name: Tyr Odinson_

_Date of Birth: 08/08/1987_

_Name: Angela Odinsdottir_

Picture after picture of children. When they were babies, when they were kids, and some more recent ones too. Thor thought he recognised the Subway that Angela was standing outside of. It was the one at the new mall that had opened two years ago near their house in Birmingham. She was tall and had long, red, flowing, curly hair. She wore a brown long jacket with a pair of washed-out blue jeans.

_Date of Birth: 31/08/1998_

_Name: Vali Odinson_

1998… 1995 Thor wasn’t 100% concrete on, especially because the baby would have had to have been conceived before then but… but 199 _8_!?

“He cheated on mother.” Thor said dumbly. “Father really did go off and cheat on mother.”

Loki shook his head, adamant. “No, that’s-that’s impossible. This must be some sort of mistake. I want a DNA test, I refuse to believe this bullshit without a DNA test- **_any_** of this bullshit.”

“They’re here, Loki.” Thor said, dead quiet. “They’re _all here_. Look!” He waggled several sheets of paper in front of his brother’s face. All DNA tests. All confirmed.

“He cheated on mother.” Loki finally agreed after a moment. “Shit, Thor, it looks like _you’ve_ got secret siblings now too.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Loki, focus. According to these papers, he paid child support… he doesn’t seem to be in contact with any of them- save for a few letters he sent to them on their birthdays. ‘Dear Angela, happy 18th! Please enjoy this new car I’ve bought you, sincerely, your father.” Thor read, monotone. 

“At least we know he didn’t completely neglect them…” Loki said, finally. “Norns Thor, I don’t know what to say. This is such a mess.” Loki bit back a chuckle at the thought. So the old man couldn’t keep track of his own kids, but had found the time to adopt _Loki?_ Interesting.

“It seems they’ve kept tabs on him too… Sif said there’s company drama, and the next thing I know Brunnhilde is shoving **_this_** into my hands!” Thor groaned. “Urgh, Loki, how do _you do it!?_ You take changing family dynamics so _well_!”

“Didn’t I try to kill you or something when I found out?”

“No. You were all raged out by then. Was that how you dealt with it then? Throwing stuff?”

“Bull, like you didn’t notice the huge crack in the window… anyways, I think the big question here is: do you want to maintain contact with these people?”

“I don’t know? Do you? They’re _your family too_ , you know.”

“No, not really. I’m only your family because we were raised together, I’m not related to _any_ of these people… you on the other hand _are_ , Thor… I mean, I know my circumstances were different, but if it helps… I think you ought to do it.”

Thor shook his head, no. “Loki, don’t you get it? If these people are coming up now AND the company’s in crisis, then they must be tied to it. I share blood with them, sure, but they mean no well for me or you or anyone in our lives… but I do need to have a conversation with mother. A long one.” Thor admitted.

“Yes,” Loki nodded his head in agreement, looking around for his coat. “I think that there’s no denying that this is long overdue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE YOU ALL LASH OUT AT ODIN WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER SO THAT YOU CAN DO ALL OF YOUR LASHING OUT AGAINST EVERYBODY AT THE SAME TIME!
> 
> Thank you! <3


	30. Looks like the Odinsons have family drama too. Yikes.

“What do you mean you knew!?” Thor balked at his mother’s statement.

“I mean that I knew. Thor, sweetie, your father wasn’t always the nice man we all love now. Do you really think that that nice man could afford this big and beautiful house.” Frigga gestured around them. Frigga had a bit of a point. 

The house was a little outside of the city, so that Loki and Thor would have a big garden to play in. It was situated on quite a hefty plot. Seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, the ones that Loki and Thor stayed in as well as the master bedroom were all ensuite. Then there was the maids quarter, as well as the two bedrooms for the bodyguards Odin kept with him at all times.

This whole ensemble probably took about £200000 a year to maintain. Not cheap. Still, father’s company turned in revenues of about £1bn a year, of which £300m was available after everyone and everything was paid for, and of which £20m made its way into the Odinson household each year. 

“I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“How do you think your father managed to get all the money that Grandpappy Bor left when he died? Yes, your grandfather left most of his assets to your father, given that your uncles are… well, the way they are, but don’t tell me you never thought it was a little convenient that they went to jail shortly after his death.”

“What are you **_saying_**!?”

“That your father slipped the police some hot tips on your uncles and they wound up in jail. When they got out six years later, they were furious with him… I wouldn’t be too surprised if Hela’s teamed up with Vili, he always seemed like the reckless sort.”

“So what if they’ve teamed up together after everything father’s done!? He cheated on you, you should want to watch him burn!”

“Thor, your father was no saint back in the day. And besides, I’ve long forgiven him.”

“Why and how?”

“Have you ever heard of atonement? It’s when you let the person you wronged pick a punishment, something horrible and nasty. And when you do it you’re forgiven, simple as that.”

“What was your punishment?”

“Well, I wanted to put an end to his adulterous ways, so I decided to torture him a little. I slept with both of his brothers at the same time while he watched.”

Thor vomited. He actually full on went and vomited. Frigga watched on, mildly intrigued, but made no move to do anything. She’d known how to get the man she’d wanted into her bed and hers alone, she only wished her son had picked up that trait from her.

“And as for your comment, Thor, about Odin not having the time for his other children and yet ‘finding time’ to pick up Loki, I’d beg you to remember that Loki is **_mine_**. I’m the one who adopted him, not your father. And Odin and I **_tried_** to have him more involved in the children’s lives but their mothers refused. Had you never been in that car crash as a baby, I’ve no doubt that your father wouldn’t have raised you either. I’ve always been of the opinion that the most fit and able parent should raise the child, given that parenting’s not about personal preferences, it’s about the **_baby_** , the innocent dependent that needs a stable environment, but your father’s always been an advocate for ‘mother’s right’ which basically allows the mother to do whatever she wants… I didn’t know about Hela. That one’s a bit of murky territory, as is Vali’s paternity, but that one’s a whole different story.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Thor, you see: Hela’s mother, Eloise, did sleep with your father around the time of Hela’s conception. But Eloise always had a thing for older guys, so she’d slept with-”

“Say no more.” Thor did not need to hear about grandpappy Bor's sex life. Damn, Eloise must have been a third of his age back then… **_more_**. Bor must have been in his seventies, and she couldn’t have been more than twenty… **_ewwwwwwwwwww_**!

“Yes, either way your father felt bad and sent them a stipend every month- enough to cover _both girls_ … too bad Surtr seized that money for his drinking habits.”

“… Father- father’s not **_Leah_** 's father too, is he?”

“No, sweetheart, that I can assure you- Leah is very much Surtr’s daughter.”

“Oh… odd how they don't share a father, yet look so alike.”

“That’s because they both look just like their mother.”

They went quiet and could hear a fierce battle going on in the study, where Loki had dragged Odin the moment that he and Thor had stepped into the study. They were both so touchy those two. He supposed his father was touchier now with everything that was going on.

“And they’re trying to seize the company then?”

“Well, Hela and Tyr are. Baldr doesn’t live in the country anymore- not since his mother made it big as an actress in California, Angela’s a businesswoman in her own right- bright young girl- and Vali’s, well, he’s two years younger than Loki, Thor. It’s a mix between not old enough to join the party and we think his results might have been faked.”

“How so do you mean?”

“His name, Thor. ‘Vali’, coupled with the fact that he was born seven months after your father slept with his mother… come on, don’t tell me _you’re_ not suspicious too.”

“You think he is Vili’s son?”

“Yes. His mother’s the one that ran the DNA test, and your father went along with it. **_I’m_** the suspicious one, but… your father feels like he owes his brothers for sending them to jail.”

“You don’t?”

“Well, it’s not like he _fabricated_ the evidence against them, he just made it a heck of a lot easier to find… have they stopped fighting yet?”

“No.”

“Of course not, Loki’s small in stature but big on words.” Frigga shook her head fondly. “And anyways, you two don’t need to worry your little heads about this. Your father and I have everything under control.”

“I mean, they’re his kids too, so if they’re fighting for a stake in the company, and you two’s concern is that you don’t want to give away Loki and mine’s portions, don’t feel obligated. It **_is_** fair.”

“Oh, son. That’s the _least_ of our worries with them.”

“What?”

“As I said, sweetheart, don’t worry your little head about it.”

.

“There’s something going on with secret children of Odin.” Fenrir told Laufey, excitedly.

“Oh? I thought Hela was Bor’s.”

“No clue about that, sir, but there’s more children. Thor was reading them out. There’s a kid called Tyr-”

“Oh, right, forgot about that one.”

“Angela-”

“Her too.”

“Baldr and Vali.”

“I did not know about those two.” Laufey nodded. “Well, this is interesting. What else do you know.”

“There’s family troubles. I think the kids are trying to seize the company or something like that.”

“Ah, excellent.” Laufey had paid the women to get abortions on most of his bastards _just_ to avoid cases like this. There were of course one or two people he wasn’t certain about- for example, Fenrir’s mother, he didn’t know if Fenrir or Jormungandr were his, not that he cared much to be honest. In his mind’s eye Helblindi and Byleistr were his, and that was where it ended. “Anything else, boy?”

“No, sir. Thor and Loki have gone to their parents’ house in Birmingham. I’m sure that there’ll be more when they get back.”

“Good work, lad. Have they received or made any suspicious phone calls recently?”

“No, sir, none yet, but I’m on the line every day.”

“Good. Update me as soon as you have new information. Goodbye, Fenrir.”

“Goodbye, Mr. Laufey.” Laufey hung up and took a moment to process the whole situation. So it would seem that Odin’s children were trying to take over the family business… they were probably getting help from Vili and Vé who had gotten out of prison some time a few years ago. Ought Laufey help them? It would make like harder for Odin if Laufey conspired with his brotheres… but Laufey had no special love for _any_ of the Borsons.

But this would be the perfect opportunity, Laufey reasoned, to get rid of Loki. Right now there were tensions in the family. All he’d have to do is find a way to frame that urchin, Hela. Hmmm, if Laufey were being smart about this, it would probably be a good idea to get rid of Thor too. He didn’t like that brat, and his knowledge over his brother’s heritage posed a risk to Laufey’s anonymity in Farbauti’s murder.

Ought he ask Fenrir to do it? Fenrir was a seasoned killer, he’d done it before on Laufey’s orders. But the last time the boy had almost gotten caught, and Laufey didn’t want to take that risk again on such an important murder. Maybe he could get Ernesto to do it once he was back from his current mission in Prague… once everything became _hotter_ , once tensions rose enough. Laufey had met Hela as a young girl once, she was every bit as bloodthirsty as her uncles and father, Laufey had no doubt that it was only a matter of time before she herself started to make attempts on Odin and Frigga’s lives.

Besides, the little bitch had been to prison before. It really was where her kind belonged.

.

A man stepped off a ferry. He had close-cropped blonde hair and wore big, black sunglasses. This man was stepping into London, a cultural hub hundreds of years old. He took his sunglasses off and stared at the London skyline. “C’mon, Bruno.” He told his dog, a handsome but old German Shepherd.

They walked into London together. The man had a note in his hand, telling him where to go. He walked past several rows of old-fashioned brick houses, that were oddly pleasant to look at, letting that calm and cool London air wash over him. 1 whole hour, that’s how long he walked. He tied his dog outside of the apartment building, and walked into the lobby.

“Can I help you?” Asked the concierge. 

“No, I’m good. Just visiting apartment 9.12”

“Oh, you know Wolfgang?”

The corner of the man’s mouth twitched. “You could say that.”

.

“What do you mean you’re my _brother_!?” Fenrir hissed in disbelief.

“My name is Jormungandr, and I am your **_twin_**. Our mother, Agnes, gave me up for adoption when I was born because I was born blind and she couldn't cope with it.”

“ _Liar_! My mother would never do something like that."

"Right, and I expect you to _also_ believe that she'd never cheat on father, and yet I tested negative for DNA ties to _their_ family."

“Bull! You don't even look like me, you have blonde hair!”

“You idiot, can’t you see that it's black at the roots?"

"Your little lie makes no sense! How did you make it all the way here, alone, if you really are ‘blind’ as you say?”

“I’m not **_blind_** , I was **_born_** blind, idiot. My foster father, Victor, had surgery done on me so that I could see again."

“Bull. You think I’m an idiot, that I don’t know why you’re coming here now? A stranger, into my apartment?” Fenrir growled. “I know you must work for Odin.”

“No, I work for the GRLS.” He whipped out his badge. “We’re investigating the death of Paul Hanson.”

“Father? What about his death.”

“We have reason to believe he was investigating the death of Farbauti Gudmunsdottir. That Laufey Nalson had something to do with it and that he _killed him_.”

“What? What bullshit conspiracy theory are you pedalling.”

“It’s just a theory for now, that’s why I’ve come to London to speak with you.”

A thought occurred to Fenrir just then. This man couldn’t **_possibly_** be a member of GRLS. Fenrir himself was only 18, if this man truly was his twin then surely there was no way that Iceland’s intelligence service would have even **_considered_** him yet. Not without a university diploma or something. This _had_ to be one of Odin’s minions, and Fenrir knew **_exactly what he was going to do_**. He was going to _gently_ shove the man to his death off of the balcony. He’d say that the man was a stranger who had broken into his apartment and had then gone on to kill himself. He’d allege that he’d never so much as spoken a word to him, that wasn’t totally a lie, it was just untrue as of an hour ago.

“Alright.” Fenrir decided to play the man’s game. “Let me tell you **_everything_**.”

.

They ate dinner in silence, but only because Frigga had taped Odin and Loki’s mouths shut. **_Thor_** personally thought that it was counterproductive, given that they couldn’t really eat like that, but his mother had looked at him menacingly with the tape still in her hands when he’d voiced his concerns, so he’d taken the diplomatic route and shut the fuck up.

It didn’t matter much though. Odin and Loki still glared at each other throughout the meal. Thor honestly didn’t understand what his father had to be angry about, this whole thing **_was_** his fault. And Loki should have spoken to Frigga first. Crisis 101: always talk to the victim before you talk to the perp. Don’t be angry on someone else’s behalf if they aren’t angry themselves.

After Dinner (Thor didn’t really know if it _counted_ as Dinner for Loki and Odin), Frigga took Loki aside.

Thor took the opportunity to grill his father. “What’s going on? I don’t hate you for this, I guess, not if mother doesn’t, but I **_do_** need to know what’s going on.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it sounds like you’re in really deep shit right now, old man.” Thor said, not caring how crass he sounded. “And because whatever’s going on, I know that we can face it together.”

Odin looked down. “It’s Hela and Vili and Ve and Tyr. They’re the ones behind this. They want the company to themselves.”

“Well, Hela and Tyr I could maybe understand, but _Vili and Vé_? What claim to Asgard do they have?”

“Well, son, you see, I didn’t exactly build Asgard from scratch. It was, originally, a small grocery store run by my father. A small grocery store that had been left to me. Now, because Vili and Vé have effectively inherited nothing from our father, they have taken to blaming me for the mess.”

“I thought _you_ were the one who had them sent to prison.”

“I revealed things about them that _they’d_ done, boy, do not paint me out to be some master villain. I got what I wanted but I didn’t have to trick anyone to do it. Anyways, they believe that because I kept the name and the original building, that they are entitled to a share in the company. There was a small trial that was held, where they tried to challenge our father’s will and sue me for ‘taking their funds’ but the judge threw it out. Now they’re trying to use Hela and Tyr to scoop up the company and divide it amongst themselves.”

Thor looked at his father, taking in the frail old man who wasn’t _entirely_ frail and old, but still less strong than Thor. The man. “I think, we’ve got enough, just let them have it. Father, this can’t be good for your blood pressure.”

Odin shook his head. “Asgard Tech employs 2,000 people in Britain alone, and about 8,000 people overseas. We have seven charities, Thor. If those four were to take over Asgard, that’s 10,000 jobs lost as well as the people who benefit from our charities losing out.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because the business would collapse in its entirety months into their takeover.”

“You don’t know that.” **_Well_** , if these people were the type to consort with Hela, then maybe he _did_ know that.

“Bah! Oh please! Hela the Crook and Tyr the Ponzi Scheme Director? Boy, _believe me_ , I know that.” Odin said, snappily. “Not to mention Vili and Vé, the same two idiots that managed to squander the inheritance that they _did_ get on drugs, women, and booze.”

“Well, what if you split the company up in your will? To appease Hela and Tyr? Split it amongst all of your children.”

Odin shook his head. “They want money, and they want it now.”

“Then give them their bit-”

“ ** _No_** , son! I do not bargain with terrorists!” Odin boomed. “We are _handling this_ , worst comes to worst…” Odin trailed off. It was better if Thor didn’t know just what his father was capable of, he reasoned, but if it came down to it, yes… Yes, Odin would have to do things the old fashioned way. Even if it meant harming his siblings. If it came down to it… well, Odin had always believed in the power of family. And though the other children were of his seed, his first thought when it came to family were Frigga, Thor and Loki. He would not let bloody Hela get her claws near either of his sons. “If worst comes to worst then we will have to increase security on both you and Loki, I’m sure that Brunnhilde and Heimdall would be more than up for the task.”

.

Fenrir closed the door. He hadn’t managed to lure that bloody little Jormungandr out onto the balcony. He threw the paper with the man’s phone number into the trash. He wouldn’t be needing that!


	31. It's coochie time

It was late (obviously, they’d eaten dinner) so Thor and Loki wound up spending the night.

Loki paced around in Thor’s old room, agitated, as his brother watched him silently from the bed. “I just can’t _believe_ father would do something like this- or wait, no, that’s not entirely true, now is it? I think the worst part of this was that deep down I _could_ believe it, I just expected better from him.”

Thor nodded at Loki’s words from his place on the bed. He was still processing this change himself, and wasn’t entirely listening to Loki (he didn’t have the mental capacity to do so at the current moment, to be quite honest).

“Oh Thor, what are we going to do? We’ve both met Hela, we know what she’s like.”

Thor nodded.

Loki sighed, stopping pacing and plopping down onto the bed. “You’re not even listening to me, are you?”

“Sorry, Lokes. I’m not in the right headspace right now.”

Loki nodded, lying his head down. “I understand… I still can’t believe you have all these siblings.”

“ _We_ have these siblings.”

“ ** _You_** , Thor, we’ve been over this.”

“You’re father’s son too, Loki.” Loki didn’t nod his head. Thor rolled his eyes. Stubborn little brother. Thor rolled over to be near him. “I’m serious, you know. Mother may have brought you home from the orphanage, but father _did_ raise you as his own."

“Please, he was always so strict and harsh with me. He was always so kind and gentle with you.”

“Loki, you were a problem child throughout your childhood. Father didn’t know how to handle you. Half the time **_I_** wanted to beat you up and throw you in a river.”

Loki stiffened. “But you didn’t.” He said, finally.

“Of course not, I chose to live vicariously through father.” Thor joked. “Every time he shouted at you for doing something stupid, like that time you got arrested for being at a club underage, I was like ‘yeah, you go dad! You stick it to him’. And I know you well enough to know that as an adult you probably feel the same way now, looking back on it.”

“He could have _tried_ to sympathise.”

“How, Loki? How do you sympathise with someone _that_ out of line? You take any little thing that father has done _in your best interest_ , and you just,” Thor gestured with his hands, “You just _twist_ it. Father doesn’t live in your head, you know. You really are making some bold assumptions that he has every piece of information that you do, that he feels the same way about things as you do. Don’t you think that’s a bit silly?”

Loki stayed quiet and turned around so that this back was facing Thor. Thor didn’t see the point in continuing the argument and instead opted to just roll onto his back and stare at the ceiling. It was getting late. He blinked, groggily, he turned back, sitting up a little to glance at Loki. Loki seemed to have fallen asleep. Fine, then. It had been a long and exhausting day for them both.

Thor turned on his side and also fell asleep.

.

That dream came back. The one about Thor fucking Loki into the mattress. Loki’s body fitting in perfectly under Thor’s big hands. Thor pinning him face-down and just rutting wildly into him.

_“Thor_.” He heard dream-Loki whimper. Oh this felt so good, so real. He could feel a tight, wet heat around him.

_“Thor_.” Wow, that was surprisingly clear for someone whose head was shoved into the mattress.

“Thor!” Thor gasped and woke up, startled, he was sweating all over. He looked at Loki and realised that his night-shorts were down. That Loki’s ass was facing him. That Loki’s panties were also down. That _Thor’s_ shorts were down. And that Thor’s big, red, angry cock was out and had likely been rutting against his arse.

“Oh, Loki, I didn’t mean- I’m so sorry!” Thor practically jumped out of the bed.

Loki waved off his apologies. “No, no, it’s fine. You didn’t actually do any penetrating, I just woke up to hands down my panties and something rutting up against my arse, don’t worry about it. I’m just going to go and sleep in my room, okay?” Loki got up and made his way off to his bedroom, leaving behind a bewildered Thor.

What the heck?

.

Loki had woken up Thor solely because he didn’t want Thor to see any sex between them as being potentially dubiously consensual. No, the next time Thor was going to fuck him, he was going to be doing it wide-awake and only **_moderately_** influenced by his biology. He wasn’t going to let Thor deny that what existed between them was real. Thor was a grown-ass man and he was going to bloody fucking own up to the fact that he secretly wanted to have sex with Loki, whether he liked it or not.

_Still, if he’d just let it go on a moment longer he’d have gotten a nice fucking_. Loki nearly scoffed. Thor was aiming closer to his arse than his pussy, his _unlubricated arse_ , Norns that would have been a nightmare.

Let Thor stew in that bed, the bed Thor had almost fucked Loki in. Let. Him. Stew.

.

The drive home was awkward, but that was to be a given. Loki had his Airpods plugged in and was listening to Power by the Bastille. He’d chosen to sit shotgun because he felt like it might be more awkward for him to sit in the back (and because he wanted to force Thor to acknowledge him). It started drizzling on the way back, oh how Loki loved it when it drizzled. Well, more so when he was at home and could curl up with a good book and some hot chocolate, but that was besides the point. 

Loki didn’t dare take a nap. This one time Thor had taken him on a road trip to Glasgow, and Loki’d fallen asleep for all of three minutes when his eyes opened to find **_Thor_** had fallen asleep. They were driving at like 70mph… never again.

.

Fenrir received a call from Jormungandr (bloody pest).

“Well, I’ve given you an entire evening to think about what I’ve just said. What do you think?”

“I think that you can go and fuck yourself in the arse.” Fenrir replied coolly. 

He heard Jormunagdr click his tongue. “You know, that’s a shame, it’s a shame that you keep going back to support him, especially when he won’t support you back.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, because I was an orphan, Victor had to get me a DNA test to make sure that I wasn’t some secret undercover-baby-spy, or whatever. He wanted to eliminate the possibility of me being Russian, so he did a DNA test with dad’s family… except that it came back negative.”

“Ha! So you are not really my brother, you admit it!”

“But the one he performed with mother’s family **_did_** come back positive, so we tried again with dad’s family. Negative again. Clearly I was hers but not his, so you know what Victor did, smart man that he was?”

“No, but I have a feeling that you’re going to bore me to death over it anyways.”

“He had a friend look through mother’s phone records, and she managed to discover one from a few months prior to my alleged birth. One from a burner phone. Untraceable. So the friend went over to mother’s family’s house and, well, what do you know, grandmother just went and sang like a canary about every awful little thing her daughter had done. That she’d cheated on her husband with some rich guy, that she suspected that her daughter was on drugs, that her daughter had given away a child that they were feverishly trying to track down-”

“-okay, you hotshot fucking psycho, before you take one more dig at mom- and that woman was not an angel, by any means, don’t you see here that you’re contradicting yourself? You describe Victor as a kind and loving man, and yet he ‘separated you’ from your dutiful grandmother.”

“Victor _is_ kind and loving, but he needed me for- it’s not important. What is is that there weren’t a lot of rich men in Iceland, and when we finally got a positive DNA test it was from Laufey’s brother-“

"So you're Laufey’s bastard **_nephew_**.”

“Not a **_paternal_** positive, you dolt, a familial one.”

“Let’s refrain from name-calling here. And Laufey can’t be your father, else by your logic he’d be mine. It must be some mistake, Nal probably had a bunch of little bastards running around. I also hate to rain on your parade, but a _lot_ of men lie about the money they have to get into girls pants, trust me **_I’ve_** done it _,_ so your alleged grandmother who you are also alleging is _my_ grandmother was probably misinformed.”

He heard Jormungandr sigh on the other end of the line. “Well, alright then. Goodbye.”

Jormungandr wagered that he’d done enough on his part. The rest was up to Fenrir.

.

Loki was struggling to concentrate with everything that was currently going on in their lives. It was absolutely _murdering_ his grades. But honestly, how was he supposed to focus when Thor was out with Jane **_again_**!? Right after they’d arrived home from Birmingham.

You know what Loki ought to do? He ought to jump on this awkwardness. _Yes_!

Tomorrow was a Sunday, Thor’d be home all day. So what _Loki_ should do is go out _right now_ , get laid, come back home unshowered, late in the morning, and just let Thor get a good, long _whiff_ of him. Let his Alpha instinct drive him up the wall. Let him crave. Loki wanted Thor to fucking crave. 

What did Jane even have that Loki didn’t? Curves? Breasts? Pssh, Loki could get those if he wanted to, there was a very nice lady just downstairs who was a plastic surgeon, Loki was sure he could pull in a favour. The only question was who would he sleep with on such short notice?

_Ding_! Loki slipped on a bra and some panties and managed to put together his sluttiest-technically-alright-to-wear-in-public outfit that he owned. Short-shorts (En had sent them over in his last care package) that didn’t really cover much of his arse, and a blazer with flip-flops (he’d make the excuse that it was hot). He tied his hair back into a ponytail, and sprinkled a bunch ofthat cologne on- dabbed at it under his erogenous zones, yeah, Loki knew what he was doing.

He walked over next door and knocked. The door opened.

“Loki?” Wolfgang asked, surprised.

“Hi, Wolfgang, I came over to ask if I could borrow a screwdriver, I’m fixing a broken table.” Loki could tell that his scent was effecting the man.

“Uh, right, sure,” the man sweated. _Perfect_. “Let me just go and find mine, why don’t you come in and have a seat?”

“Thanks.” Loki sat down on Wolfgang’s couch. While the man went into his bedroom to rifle through some drawers, Loki spread his legs and fanned his coochie. Then, like a spark of lightning had hit him, Loki calculatedly threw his phone down behind the couch. He bent over, taking longer than he’d need to get it.

Fenrir walked back into the room and saw the sight before him, Loki’s ass half out as he rummaged down the back of the couch. He put the screwdriver on the kitchen island with a loud, purposeful clunk, and went to stand right behind Loki. He pulled the Omega up by the jacket, and deeply inhaled by his neck. Gods, he smelt so fucking good, so fucking **_ripe_**! It had Fenrir just about ready to burst. He ground up against the back of Loki’s shorts. 

“Did you really want that screwdriver, or do you just want to screw?” Fenrir asked, squeezing the tender globes of Loki’s arse.

“I’d take both, really.”

Fenrir shoved a hand down the front of Loki’s shorts. Laufey had always mocked male Omegas, so Fenrir had never had one, but the thought of doing this right here and right now. Debasing this one, this juicy one right in front of him, was so intense. Fenrir fumbled past what was tight enough to be a panty, and pulled it down to release Loki’s cock. Then he bent down and grabbed Loki’s shorts with his teeth which he pulled down to expose the man.

“Oh-”

“Shut up, bitch.” He ripped Loki’s light pink panties right off of him and pinned him to the couch, wet pussy up. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you feel _real_ good.”

.

Loki’d manage to entice Wolfgang into three more rounds before leaving the next morning. He’d grabbed his dick, licked his arsehole, and given him a ‘goodmorning blowjob’. His plan had worked, huzzah! He turned the key to his apartment door.

Thor was sitting on the couch, just as planned.

.

Thor had barely managed to get a wink in last night. He had heard their next-door neighbour having sex last night, and it had been really fucking loud. Thor had wound up shifting to the guest bedroom to escape the noise. Grrr.

At around ten in the morning, he heard the door to Wolfgang’s apartment open. Good, his girlfriend must be going home now, Thor could _finally_ catch up on his sleep.

The lock on the door to their apartment was breached seconds later, and the door opened and Loki walked in.

_And the scent was everywhere_! OMG! Thor felt a huge well of anger suddenly build up in him, ready to burst.

“Where were- what were you doing!?” Thor demanded.

“Blowing off some steam.” Loki shrugged as though it meant nothing. 

“With the **_neighbour_**!?”

“Is that _really_ the part of this that you care about, brother?” Loki asked, turning to the direction of his room.

“And where are you going _now_!?”

“ _To my room! To_ ** _shower_** _!_ ”

**_Damn right he is, if I ever smell that fucking scent again I’ll rip Wolfgang’s fucking throat out_**.

.

Fenrir had a nice and happy lie in that Sunday. He’d spent the last three days worrying about what Jormungandr said, whether it was true or not.

And now he knew, definitively, that it was not.

_No matter what cycle of the year it is, you are_ **_not_ ** _attracted to your blood._

Loki was not related to him by blood, and Loki was Laufey’s son (Laufey’s son was a surprisingly good fuck, Fenrir wouldn’t mind doing _that_ again), therefore Fenrir could not be Laufey’s son.

Suck on that, Jormungandr!

He dialled up Laufey, now that he was decided on the path that he was going to take.

“Laufey, there’s a man here, Jormungandr. He’s got it in his head that he and I are your sons- but I know for certain that that’s a lie.”

“Oh, and how so?” by Laufey’s tone, Fenrir could infer that Laufey knew him not to be his child, and that was enough for Fenrir.

“I just fucked Loki.” Meh, not like Laufey would care. He heard Laufey heave a deep sigh on the other end of the line. 

“Oh, how I wish you wouldn’t debase yourself like that. Then, I suppose that all are _technically_ inferior to Male Alphas. Alright then, boy, do you know who this Jormungandr is?”

“He claims to work for GRLS, but I’m not sure how true that is given everything else that he’s lied about.”

“Good work lad, take out the MasterCard and go get yourself something fancy, on me.”


	32. Drama!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! (throws glitter) This story'll probably be finished before November's over, sorry for the long wait!

Helblindi and Byleistr were scheduled for another trip to London quite soon, in just under two weeks in fact. They were coming over for Loki’s birthday. You know who else was coming to Loki’s birthday? _Jane_. **_Jane_** was coming to Loki’s birthday, because it would be suspect of him not to invite her. Or, rather, not to let Thor invite her. And Loki had no intention of getting on Thor’s bad side… well, not explicitly, which was why he was inviting his hookup, Wolfgang, to the party.

Loki almost felt bad for inviting Verity as well, but in his defence he’d warned her about all of the potential drama, and she’d been insistent that she come for ‘moral support’. Yeah right, he knew his girl, she just wanted to watch the drama go down, and Loki was damned well going to let her. She deserved a good thing now and again. Everyone needed a toxic friend in their life to spice it up, he was hers.

Loki spent the week being the most doting person that Thor could ever dream of. 

He baked Thor cookies and cakes and wore aprons and kept his corset on to give him a more womanly shape (Thor preferred women, right?). He even worked to lose a _little_ more weight. It wasn’t like last time, he reasoned, he was in full-control now. Looking back on it he shuddered to think about his bulimic ways. He would not be so drastic now, just a bit more exercise and a few less cakes. That was the key to an overall healthier lifestyle, wasn’t it?

“Thanks, Loki.” Thor smiled at his brother when Loki brought over a plate filled with cupcakes. Thor lifted weights a lot, he could afford to indulge a bit. Loki thought of how much more perfect this would all be if after bringing over a plate of food, he could just slide into his brother’s lap and lean in for a kiss.

_In time_ , he reasoned.

Life was so much less stressful since admitting that he wanted Thor wholeheartedly, and accepting that there was nothing wrong in it. Was it incest? Yeah, technically, but it was **_adopted_** incest, which was a bit better. And besides, it’s not like Loki grew up _thinking_ Thor was his brother. He’d always known, his parents had been very clear about it.

There were no updates on the whole Hela situation, which was troublesome. Loki didn’t like this whole being kept in the dark thing. Thor, meanwhile, had called up his good old friend, one Mr. Anthony Stark, and asked him for help and advice. Apparently the man was a computer-wiz and could shut Hela’s whole operation down with just the click of a button. Loki thought that this claim seemed a little exaggerated, but then he remembered the one time that he’d actually **_met_** the dashing, intelligent Alpha, and wagered that if Anthony couldn’t do it, then that girlfriend of his, Pepper, could _definitely_ do it.

Loki still walked around dabbing himself in that scent En had sent. He had the occasional romp with Wolfgang too, once even inviting him over while Thor was out. It drove Thor insane, Loki knew, Loki could _tell_ because Thor then started bringing Jane over. It was like they had reverted back to the time when it was Thor with Jarnsaxa and Loki with Leah, but Loki knew better this time. This wasn’t a failed attempt at reuniting with his ex, at trying to lead a normal life, oh no. This was him getting what he wanted, and Loki **_always_** got what he wanted.

Loki always made sure that Wolfgang was gone by the time that Thor got back, he didn’t want them to fight or anything… yet, anyways. 

Loki also still put a _little_ bit of that scent in Thor’s underwear regularly.

But that was mostly just for his own private pleasure.

.

Fenrir was kind of enjoying having a little Omega bitch. It made him feel powerful.

Oh, and he’d dialled up Jormungandr to tell him that Jormungandr’s ‘Victor’ person, whoever, was a **_liar_**.

Jormungandr had asked how Fenrir had known, to which Fenrir had smugly replied that he’d fucked their alleged half-brother into the mattress several times. Then had gone on to explain to him in explicit detail how tight their supposed half-brother was and all the sounds he made while being fucked and how much of a whore he was all the way until Jormungandr had hung up.

Served him right, the bastard. Trying to bring down Fenrir’s deceased mother’s credibility. How dare he?

Fenrir had also received orders from Laufey to occupy the boys while he was in negotiations with their sister, Hela. Mission accomplished.

.

Loki purposefully left his phone out, knowing that his snoop of a brother (who happened to know his passcode) would find the dick pics that Wolfgang had sent him.

Loki also changed how he dressed (a bit, once he was out of the apartment he replaced his sheer top for a proper black t-shirt once more) and made sure his frequent absences were noticed by leaving his door open whenever he left for the night and also being _super loud_ whenever he hooked up with Wolfgang and making sure to come back in marks.

Thor had been doing a better job of hiding how he felt all about this, but Loki had been into his room. He’d seen the cracked mirror in Thor’s master bathroom. He’d seen the chloral wipes covered in blood, he’d seen the bandaid on Thor’s hand. He knew what his brother had done.

Moreover, Loki knew what _he_ was going to do when he went into his next heat. Rather _who_ he was going to do. Loki was no idiot, he knew Thor wouldn’t be in Rut by the time that Loki went into heat (their cycles weren’t exactly in-sync) but rather that Loki was likely to drive Thor _into_ a Rut, and that in the prequel to that specific event, the scent of Thor’s mate, in heat, fucking another Alpha, would turn Thor **_wild_**. Hopefully it would be the moment in which Thor would _finally_ come to accept his own feelings towards his brother.

.

Jormungandr was confused. He knew full damn well that Laufey was his biological father, so how the fuck had Fenrir been able to fuck Loki? His scent alone should have repelled him, should have made him go ‘oh fuck no’ before he’d so much as gotten an erection.

This was odd… there must be something else at play here. Jormungandr was going to get to the bottom of this.

.

“What do you want, then?” Hela asked, sitting across from Laufey Nalson of Jotunheimr Tech.

“What you want. Please, both of you, sit.” He gestured from Hela and Vili to the chairs. The two complied, not wanting to seem rude. “I’m aware that you two are after Odin’s company… I want to help you get it.”

“Why?”

“Let’s just say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He said, fully conscious of Vili’s suspicious stare at Laufey. The man didn’t believe him, of course, Vili had known Laufey a bit back in the day, so Laufey didn’t blame him. “I am serious, Odin betrayed my trust, stole all of my contacts, ratted me out to the police, and left me with _nothing_. I want my revenge on him.”

“And how do we know that it was not you who launched that cyberattack against Hel Corp.?” Vili asked, finally.

“I am unaware of such an event occurring.” He genuinely was. _He_ hadn’t done it. “Are you sure it wasn’t Odin?”

“My father does not have such technology.” Laufey didn’t correct her, didn’t mention that on that dark, murky night when Odin was drunk and sleeping with Hela’s mother that Laufey knew for a fact, because he’d been on top of all of Odin’s sex scandals in the day, that Odin had not had vaginal intercourse with the woman, and that Laufey was 15000% sure that she was Bor’s.

“I would not be so sure of that. His Gatekeeper, Heimdall, is a tech wiz. And that other one, Sigurd, he’s mighty marvellous on the keyboard himself.”

“Be that as it may, we do not suspect Odin of this.” Hela said, through gritted teeth. “Now, what have come to offer us?”

“Odin will have to leave the company to you if he has nobody else to leave it to, and I think he’s made it more than clear that he favours his two sons, Loki and Thor, over you and your half-siblings. I say kill the pair. The rest of your half-siblings, you can tarnish their reputation, he’d never leave his precious company to ‘bad people’, but not those two. Those two must be killed.”

“Not a bad plan.” Vili nodded. He’d long thought it unfair that he should have to rot in jail without his father’s inheritance, while some filthy little Omega Male who wasn’t even related to Bor was able to live in the luxuries afforded by Odin’s inheritance of Bor’s Estate. Bor would be rolling in his grave if he knew that Odin had taken in an Omega Male, **_especially_** if he knew that the thing’s only use **_wasn’t_** for sexual services. Who even did that?

“How would we go about doing such a thing though?” Hela asked, clearly interested in the idea.

“Well, we’d have to tarnish the reputations of Baldr, Angela, Vali, and Tyr first.” Judging by the look in Hela’s eyes, the girl clearly had no qualms about double-crossing any of her half-siblings. “Then, we convince Odin to review his will and add you in. About three months later, Odin, Frigga, Thor and Loki all go on a trip to Devon, and die in a car crash between them and a truck driver. The end.”

“That… is brilliant.” Hela admitted. 

“I know. I’ve got it all planned out. You just do as I say.” And if this plan failed he was sure as hell going to blame it on the person recently written into the will, the one of them who had been previously convicted, of course. He was a wealthy businessman with a seemingly clean record earned from many, many bribes to corrupt politicians, he could survive a scandal like this.

.

Fenrir was prompt and on time, he’d just spent the past half an hour getting ready for this. Loki had invited him over for his birthday. This was the perfect opportunity to plant more cameras into Loki and Thor’s apartment, and retrieve footage from the old ones.

He was dressed up in a suit and tie, his scruffy hair combed somewhat-neat. He hadn’t been face-to-face with Thor in a while, and didn’t want to give the unnervingly buff Alpha a reason to beat his head in over fucking his nancy-boy brother.

He picked up the present he’d bought Loki. It was a watch, a nice pretty one. He’d wrapped it up in pink paper and thrown some glitter over it and topped it off with a nice silver bow.

His initial plan had been to buy Loki lingerie (which he’d **_also_** done, as a back-up birthday present: a cupless bra with some crotchless panties, black leather, designer label, he’d bought Loki a similar pair before) but Laufey had suggested the watch as a way to get closer to Loki, make it seem more serious. Apparently Laufey was planning on killing Loki, smart move in Fenrir’s opinion.

He knocked on the door and waited.

.

“Wait until you meet our neighbour, Wolfgang.” Loki told his brother (biologically). Oh wait, that was right, he had **_two_** new ones. Anyways, the one he was talking to was Helblindi.

“You’re friends with your neighbour? That’s so sweet, I don’t even know my neighbour’s last name.” Helblindi gushed. Aww, his little Omega brother, such a sweetheart! He was confident that the reason that Thor wasn’t a bloodsucking parasite who ate the flesh of little children for dessert, like Odin, was because of the influence of Loki on Thor. This was of course false and if anything it was the other way round, but let’s let Helblindi believe what he wants to believe.

Byleistr, meanwhile, was helping Thor set up as Thor’s **_beautiful_** girlfriend, Jane, chatted with Verity. Byleistr wasn’t going to comment on the fact that Thor had cheated on Jarnsaxa, not right here in this moment, because he was a guest in Thor’s home. Byleistr was also horny, and sporting a half-erection. That was bizarre. Surely just being in his brothers’ presence ought to be the ultimate cock-block, the universal anti-viagra, but for some reason that wasn’t the case… it was strange. He tried to think of old Gran Nal naked, it didn’t help at all.

Verity’s eyes wandered around the room as Jane talked to her about something or the other. In all honesty, Verity didn’t really care. She was here for two things: her best friend in the whole wide world, and **_drama_**.

The doorbell sounded.

“He’s a **_bit_** more than a friend, actually.” Loki informed Helblindi while walking to the door. He opened it and smiled at Wolfgang. “Wolfgang, welcome in!” Loki beamed at his hookup buddy.

Smiling, Wolfgang walked forwards… and then froze. Helblindi and Byleistr. Oh no.

“Fenrir?” Helblindi gaped, but before he could react Fenrir was out of the apartment and running out of the building. He’d been compromised, there was no time to go back into his apartment and grab his stuff, he needed to leave London _now_. Laufey was a dangerous man, but so were his sons.

“Where are you headed?” The driver of the black cab he was in asked.

“Heathrow! Get me to Heathrow!” He was fortunate to have brought his wallet with him.

“Alrighty.”

He texted Laufey:

_Helblindi and Byleistr know_

_They’ve been in contact with him_

_I just caught them at his apartment_

.

“That’s one of our father’s henchmen!” Byleistr said, face white as fresh snow.

“Are you positive?” Thor asked, a grim expression on his face.

“Yes, he’s been over at ours every Christmas for the last five years. His parents are Agnes and Paul Hanson. His father died when he was young, his mother went to prison for child neglect and is now dead. Trust me on this, its **_him_**! And he’s no doubt told father what’s going on already!” Byleistr groaned.

“Wouldn’t you two be able to seek asylum here, in the UK? Given what your father did to your mother there’s enough of a reason to suspect that he might intend to do the same to you.” Miss Smarty-pants Foster tried. Oh fuck her, thought Loki bitterly, as he stressed over the fact that he’d repeatedly fornicated with a man sending his biological father dirt on him. Why was she even still here anyways? Shouldn’t Thor have chucked her out by now?

“I doubt it, and that’s not what I’m worried about. Father wouldn’t kill us, he needs us to carry on his name. What I’m **_worried_** about is that he’ll kill Loki to remove the lingering threat of him going public with his lineage.” Byleistr said.

“That’s insane! I’d never do something so foolish!”

“The man trusts no one.” Helblindi said, grim. “He’d rather have you dead for safety, in a way that would mean that your remains were unrecoverable and your DNA was untestable. We need to bring you into hiding.”

“How? Where?”

“We need to call your parents. We need to call Odin and Frigga and hope that they’ve got a solution for all of this madness.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope Loki doesn't wind up trying too hard to be the perfect Omega for Thor... would HATE to imagine what that would lead to, especially as this story is almost done.


	33. Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAKE A DEEP BREATH! and relax.

Odin and Frigga had acted swiftly. They’d had Loki and Thor transferred, in secret, to the family’s safe-house in Paris. Nobody, not even the British tabloids, knew about the location. And if the British tabloids didn’t know about it there was no way in Hel that Laufey would.

It was small and secluded, and perfect because Paris was practically run by one Mr. Freyr Njordson, aka Frigga’s brother.

They’d offered to let Helblindi and Byleistr stay, but both brothers declined. They knew they would have to confront Laufey.

Loki paced the house. It was a house, not an apartment. And it was more on the outskirts of Paris than in it. A little cottage in a village right next to Paris, overlooking the Seine. The place where Odin proposed to Frigga. Odin had bought it for the couples’ 20th Anniversary, two years ago.

Thor, meanwhile, sat in the office. He still had work to do, they’d found a way to encrypt all of his communications. Scotland Yard had been called in to investigate the case in London, they’d found all sorts of military-grade spy equipment in the apartment Wolfgang- **_Fenrir,_** had been renting.

Frigga and Odin were greatly displeased that Loki had gotten in contact with his brothers. They thought it was reckless and dangerous and had yelled as much to him on the phone. Frigga had, during a Zoom call, affectionately recounted how obsessed Helblindi had been with Farbauti’s baby bump when she was pregnant with Loki. Apparently he’d asked if it meant he was getting another Byleistr. Wasn’t that sweet?

Loki had not heard a word from them since. He didn’t know if they were alive or dead. He’d been unable to sleep in the two days since they’d arrived here. 

Thor was trying his best to comfort his distraught little brother, whilst also being relieved (he had no idea why) about the fact that nothing serious was going to come of Wolfgang x Loki. Well, **_Fenrir_** x Loki technically.

He was worried about Helblindi and Byleistr too, admittedly. Sure he had hated the pair most of his life, but to be fair, he’d based his hate solely on the idea that the two shared Laufey’s beliefs. And while they **_did_** definitely have a long way to go against fighting their respective prejudices against Alpha females and Omega males, the two had shown that they were willing to change and had both made progress. Because they cared about Loki. 

That was all Thor ever really cared about at the end of the day, he supposed, whether or not someone cared about his brother. It was odd, and yet it put him at ease to see a friend smile in Loki’s direction or offer him some help. He supposed deep down he’d always been worried about people not accepting Loki. In fairness, he’d always known the reason why Laufey had cast Loki out.

Loki couldn’t sleep which was another nightmare that ‘big brother’ had to solve. He’d run down to the pharmacy to grab some zopiclone (he’d found the man at the counter to be particularly bribable) and had managed to get his ox-headed brother to take some. It took a whole 7.5 mg tablet to get the little bugger to fall asleep. Good thing too because Thor was about to go back there for some cough syrup, the weird ones that some parents gave their kids to fall asleep. Would it screw Loki up in the long run? **_Probably,_** but the damned floors in the house creaked like hell and Loki wasn’t the only one losing sleep over his apparent insomnia.

.

Loki knew his heat was close.

He spent most of his time studying for exams, his parents had forced him to take the books with him.

There was a pool at the cottage, right outside. A small plunge pool. Loki often liked to sunbathe by it with his textbooks.

There was a cute Alpha next door around his age. A cute Alpha that was _totally_ checking him out next door.

Loki’s plan was complete.

.

“Are we **_seriously_** going back to Reykjavik!?” Byleistr whisper-shouted at his brother.

“Are you mad? No. We’re heading back to Iceland… we need backup and bodyguards.”

“Wait, what? I’m lost.”

“We’ll go back to Iceland, but we’ll go to Vik. Father will never think to look for us there. I’ll gather my men and you yours. If we confront father we can’t go in there empty.”

“What’s the plan them? Do we kill him?”

“If we **_have_** to…”

“Helblindi, listen to yourself, this has gotten out of control!”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it too, every time you saw dad after figuring out the truth.”

“Hel-”

“He killed our **_mother,_** By. He killed our mother **_and_** stole our brother.”

Byleistr shook his head. “He committed uxorcide, that doesn’t mean we have to commit patricide.” He placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders, noting the irony of the situation. Usually it was Helblindi who had to keep _Byleistr_ calm. Look at what had happened at the bar that night!

“You’re right.” Helblindi said, after an agonisingly long pause. “You’re right, of course you’re right. Fine then, we won’t kill him, but we still need to be armed when we go in and confront him. We’re making a lot of assumptions in our ‘he wouldn’t kill us’ case, you never know what a man desperate for his freedom might do.”

“Alright then, to Vik.”

.

Thor’s dick twitched as he felt Loki go into pre-heat. Well, **_smelt_** , more like. He started wearing a cloth around his face again, covered in oil and water. A nasty smell, but an effective scent blocker.

Norns he missed Jane.

.

Loki knew it the day his heat was going to come. He sent Thor out to the market for groceries, then went over to the pool. Sure enough, given enough time, that tall, blonde Casanova was out there, cleaning up his own pool with the net.

It was like a scene straight out of a porno.

Loki spread his legs a little, invitingly. The scent of his heat drew the man in (one of Loki’s regrets had been that he hadn’t managed to snag that perfume En had sent him before they’d left to France). The next thing he knew, his pants were being discarded and the man had Loki on his dick, bouncing, even as they moved to Loki’s bedroom (Loki should have asked himself then and there how the man knew where his bedroom was, but he wasn’t in the right mind-frame to do so).

When the man finished in him, they laid down beside each other, back to front as the knot deflated.

.

After about a half hour they were at it again. So loud were they that they completely missed the sound of Thor coming home. The sound of Thor’s footsteps nearing the door. The sound of Thor opening the door.

They **_did_** hear the sound of Thor’s growl though, as Thor **_lunged_** at the man who dared to touch his mate. 

His **_mate_**!… who was in heat. **_Blood. Tears. Murder._** Thor’s mind sang as he grabbed for the man. The man ducked and dodged and ran out of the room with his tail between his legs. Coward. Thor would deal with their pesky neighbour later, he should have realised earlier that the creep had a thing for Loki, who **_wouldn’t_** have a thing for Loki? Loki was perfect, with his pert, fuckable arse and that cute, fuckable face, and that sweet little cock of his.

“Thor, what are you-?” Loki’s mouth was smothered by Thor’s. Thor wasn’t giving Loki enough time to ask a question, had Loki miscalculated? Was Thor already lost to his Rut?

“Thor, _stop_!” Loki insisted, fighting against his brother. Hmm, maybe those Alpha doctors _were_ right about Omegas having **_some_** level of control. That aside, Loki wasn’t going to let Thor have it this easy. Not again. Thor wasn’t getting an easy in. Thor was going to fucking admit that this was what he wanted before Loki let him have any. No matter how **_right_** Thor’s hand felt on his hip, or how damned good it felt to have the shadow of Thor’s weight above him. “Thor, stop, I mean it.” But Thor didn’t seem to hear him (if Loki were to be **_entirely_** honest, his mouth was kind of smushed up against Thor’s (guilty pleasure) so he could see how the instructions could be missed or misinterpreted as moans) so lost in exploring Loki’s mouth.

Norns, why did everything in Loki’s life have to be so God dammed hard!? Loki moved back, bringing himself away from Thor, but his hunk of a brother followed. Loki did what he had to do then. He let out a yelp, to try and sound like he was in pain. It worked because Thor pulled back, his face suddenly flooded with concern. Loki took the moment to flip them over and pin Thor’s hands above his head.

“Thor, **_stop_**! Think about what you’re doing! We can’t keep dancing around in circles every time I go into Heat or you go into Rut! Do you want this- do you want **_me_** , or are these just your hormones?” Pointless question, Loki realised, if Thor’s brain was hormone-addled right now then his brother wouldn’t be able to think straight. 

Oh well, if all else failed, then Thor would at least remember this conversation when he came out of this state. It wasn't like Ruts (or whatever this was on Thor's end, really, because Loki wasn't entirely sure that it was a Rut, maybe just a flash (aka a mini Rut)) robbed you of your memory.

Thor didn’t seem able to formulate an answer (seems that Loki was right about hormones having had kicked in), but he did say mind and grab Loki to him, running his arms across Loki's body. Mmmm, strong Alpha.

**_Loki's_**.

.

Thor woke up about three days later (Heats didn't always last a week, and especially with Loki having had barely had any up until this point, Thor could see why they'd be irregular) with a smaller body curled up into him, asleep.

Thor blinked. It always happened exactly like this, he woke up after his hormones were back to normal and all his memories came back to him. He moved more to the edge of his side of the bed and stopped.

What was he doing?

He removed himself from the bed softly, so as not to wake Loki up.

_‘It hurts… not knowing if you love me, Thor.’_ Loki had mumbled into his chest while they had lounged in bed after their fourth round.

Yeah… well it sucked not knowing what to do about feelings that you may or may not have for someone who was sort-of your brother, except not really, and it’s not like you didn’t always know he wasn’t your brother… and also **_Jane_** , who he’d been engaged to, except that they’d been back together for over a month and even through all the sex they’d had due to his perpetual horniness he hadn’t really thought all that much about marrying her. He’d made comments, he’d **_tried_** thinking up the fantasy, giving them two kids and a nice house in Birmingham for when he took over his father’s company…

But the children were always faceless.

Thor didn’t want faceless children.

This was a sham, this was so stupid.

But he couldn’t have Loki. Realistically, he’d known back when he’d broken up with Jarnsaxa that it wouldn’t work were he with anyone but Loki, but that didn’t mean that it was right. They were siblings, adopted sure, but still siblings, right? And Thor was Loki’s older brother, he was supposed to watch out for him, not fuck him. And what about their children, would Thor be their father or uncle?

It just wouldn’t work. It couldn’t.

He remembered the ultimatum his parents had given him and Loki back when they’d first slept together, that they could either never see each other again or accept one another as mates.

Thor knew what he had to do. It would be hard, sure, but it was necessary. Loki meant the world to him, Loki didn’t deserve to pay for Thor’s mistakes.

Thor would move. Perhaps to America, Manhattan, where his friend Tony lived. He’d find good work there on Wall Street, quit his current job. Start afresh. New name, new identity, so Loki could never find him. 

He poured himself a cup of coffee. And went back to the bedroom. He peeked in at Loki sleeping.

He’d go now. He’d go without forcing Loki to ever have to say goodbye.

.

Helblindi and Byleistr had both made every call imaginable to every single person they knew who _wasn’t_ on their father’s payroll. That list wound up being surprisingly short. In the end Byleistr grew so desperate that he even reached out to his **_team_** for help! Most of them were ex-cons, heck, Angrboda had been a member of the Mafia when he was younger, before football (though Byleistr knew full-well that the man had plans to go and rejoin the Ironwood Mafia as soon as his football career ended).

All that was left to do was sit and wait for the outcome of all of this. It was so infuriating. Byleistr had never had to wait for anything in his life.

Oh well, he still had his burner.

_Got to Iceland safe_ he texted Loki.

_Gonna gather an army_

_March on Reykjavik lol_

.

Laufey was furious, to say the least.

He had admittedly not thought that his idiot son, Byleistr, would amount to much in life, but to find out that Helblindi too was behind this betrayal was enough to drive a man to murder.

And that was just it, wasn’t it? If it came down to it, Laufey would have to murder his own bloody fucking sons over this fucking mess. He’d have to start right from square one: finding a woman to impregnate with Alpha male heirs.

The alternative was to go to prison for Farbauti’s murder- which again, _they couldn’t prove_ , but he couldn’t have those twits leaking their suspicions to the press either. Sensationalist headlines often took precedence over verifiable facts, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

That was just it, wasn’t it? Everyone had to die.

.

Jormungandr snuck into Loki and Thor’s apartment, past the yellow tape. He had it on good information that the reason that this apartment in particular was sectioned off was because Fenrir’s cameras had been pointing at it. Scotland Yard had wound up finding some cameras (tiny little things, not noticeable to the naked eye, though Jormungandr had trouble figuring out how they possibly could have been manufactured and/or engineered, didn’t things have to be a minimum of a certain size or something?)

Come on, come on, there had to be something in here that Fenrir had left (Fenrir’s apartment had been entirely cleaned out), some piece of DNA that Jormungandr could test to prove that he and Fenrir were… were related. He paused at the dresser of somebody’s room (he could figure out whose room it was with just one text message should he want to).

La Séduction. Wasn’t this supposed to be a…

Oh.

**_Oh_**!

Oh **_that_** was how Fenrir had managed to fuck Loki! The natural scent receptors in Fenrir’s nose would have been overcome by the smell of whichever unnamed Omega this scent came from! This stuff was made from pheromones, dammit!

And Loki probably would have felt similarly, his nose so full of this stuff that he couldn’t smell his own damned brother when he was in the room! Of course, this made complete and absolute sense! He knew that his adoptive father hadn’t lied to him, he was a man of mysteries but he wasn’t particularly known for being much of a liar (to those he trusteed).

“Snake, do you copy? Over.” His walkie talkie sang.

“Yeah?”

“You’re needed in Iceland. We’ve got the evidence, we’re sending a team over right now to arrest Mr. Nalson.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be on the next flight home. Over.” Jormungandr grabbed the bottle and marched out of the apartment. He’d deal with the Fenrir situation later.

For now he had a father to bust.

.

Loki woke up, the sun in his face.

Thor was gone, again. Oh well, knowing his brother the big, blonde dope had probably gone off to go and make them pancakes or something… he didn’t have a good feeling about this. His mind kept trying to rationalise things and lift him out of his distressed mood.

Thor’s wallet was gone. Most of Thor’s stuff was still here though. His phone was gone. Maybe they’d just run out of supplies and Thor had gone off to make a supply run or something? Yeah, that was a perfectly logical explanation!

Loki checked the fridge. It was stocked. To the brim. OK, fine, maybe Thor had gone out for some fresh air, or to do a bit of non-grocery shopping? He was a free man, he could do as he pleased.

**_Birth control! What if Thor had gone out to buy Loki some birth control!_ **

Had Loki asked Thor for birth control? Loki couldn’t remember it. 

Wait, idiot, there was a perfectly simple way to figure out what happened. Loki whipped out his phone, ignored the message from Byleistr, and went to Thor’s contact photo. He called his brother but nobody picked up. That was not like Thor. At all.

His heart pounding and his stomach sinking, he ran out of the front door frantic. “Thor! Thor!” They didn’t have a car, wherever Thor was, Loki was positive that he hadn’t gotten all that far. “ ** _Thor_**!”

Nothing.


	34. She's not sweet, just psycho

“Where could he have gone?” Loki agonised over the phone to his mother.

“I don’t know, sweetheart, we can’t seem to get a hold of him either.” She was worried too, but she had to be strong for her youngest, that much she knew. “Relax, sweetie, he’s probably just gone out for a jog or something and his battery’s died, just stay home and keep safe.”

Loki was fairly certain that phones didn’t ring like normal when the person you were calling’s phone was dead, but he listened to his mother.

He finally looked at the text from Byleistr, deciding to bide his time talking to his other brother.

_L: You okay? You seem worried_

_B: Wouldn’t you be?_

_B: Hel says we might have to kill dad_

_B: I’m scared_

_L: Is that what you’re waiting for then?_

_L: An army to kill Laufey?_

_B: No, Hel says it’s just for backup purposes_

_B: Incase Laufey’s aggressive to us first_

_L: Oh_

_L: That must be scary_

_L: You should’ve just come with use_

_L:*us, stupid autocorrect_

_B: No, we have to take care of this_

_B: We’ll march as soon as we have a big enough army_

_B: We need all the help that we can get_

_L: Good luck, brother_

_L: Be safe_

Thor wasn’t back an hour later, Loki tried to just sit down and keep himself calm. He was worried, about literally **_everything_**. 

On the one hand he was worried about Thor, the love of his life, and what his departure meant. Had he pushed Thor too far? Had Thor, overcome by his guilt, decided to take the other way out of this bond? The one that would guarantee Loki’s safety? Killing himself. It was a terrifying thought, but Thor had always been self-sacrificing. He wanted to go out and search for his brother, but worried that Thor might eventually come home to an empty house.

On the other hand, Loki worried about his other brothers. The new ones. Those idiots really thought they had a chance against Laufey, but Loki had heard the tales, heck, he’d even met the damned man. Loki knew full-well that if Laufey **_truly_** wanted to kill his sons, then Helblindi and Byleistr stood no chance. He couldn’t let the pair march to their deaths!

And unlike Thor, he knew **_exactly_** where those two were. Loki whipped out his phone and booked a ticket to Iceland (he’d get the details on exactly where to head on the ride there, he reasoned). His brothers were in trouble, all of them, and damn all three to hell if they thought Loki wasn’t going to get involved.

.

Thor sat in the waiting area to get on his flight to New York. New York, new life, no Loki. That was what he’d signed up for, wasn’t it? He’d call his job first thing in the morning to resign, but for now he needed a moment. It was a hard thing, giving up one’s life, but this had to be done. It was for Loki’s own good.

He felt a weight beside him, someone had just sat down. Wait a second!

“Heimdall.” Thor croaked, his voice hoarse and full of emotions. He supposed he was sadder about leaving his life behind than he thought. He truly was going to miss being Thor Odinson. “How did you find me?”

“I see all, Thor. It is my job to keep tabs on every member of the Odinson family.”

“You knew about Hela, Angela, Tyr, Baldr and Vali.” Thor accused.

“Aye.”

“And why didn’t you tell me?”

Heimdall shrugged. “You never asked, friend. Besides, I seriously doubt the paternity on a few of those. I know Tyr, Angela and Baldr are for sure Odin’s, but… anyways, I digress. It’s my job to watch out for you, Thor. For you and your brother.”

“Then you know that what I’m doing here is best for him.”

“No. I think what you’re doing here is best for you?”

“What do you mean.”

“I think you’re afraid, Thor, and I don’t blame you. Loki was a wreck when he first realised he had feelings for you, it’s what led him to Leah in the first place, back when they were teenagers.”

“What?” _What_? That had been near a decade ago. There was no way- Loki didn’t even know what romance _was_ back then!

“Aye. You’re brother’s always been one for making bad decisions, like right now, he’s flying to Iceland though he will almost certainly be killed upon arrival.”

“Wait- _what_?”

“Yes, his flight leaves in an hour. From what I got from the WhatsApp messages between him and Byleistr, I’d guess that Loki’s worried about their safety so he wants to help them fight against Laufey.”

“That is madness!”

“I agree.” Heimdall nodded. 

“We have to go and help them.” Thor said, already up and walking fast towards the information desk.

“Thor!” Heimdall called. Thor turned and the man was waving two tickets at him and gesturing behind himself. “The gate is **_this_** way!”

That sneak.

.

It was weird knowing that Loki was on the plane but not knowing **_where_** he was. Thor had tried to get up to go and find him, but Heimdall had forcefully pulled him back down. “Don’t bother him yet, he’s already going to have to put up with you on the long ride to Vik.”

“Reykjavik!? Those fools are hiding in plain sight!”

“No, Thor, **_Vik_**! It’s a **_town_**! It’s a two hour drive to there from the airport.”

As soon as the plane landed, Thor ran around frantically trying to find his brother. After scouring the whole entire airport, Thor returned to Heimdall defeated.

Only to find him with Loki, because _of course_ Heimdall had texted Loki asking him to meet him at a designated spot.

“Thor.” Loki breathed. “Thor, you’re alive.”

“Aye.”

“Good, because I’m going to _kill you myself!_ ” Loki lunged at his brother. Heimdall could have stopped Loki, he _really_ could have. He took out his phone and dialled his associate as he watched a panicked Thor try to escape the wrath of his brother. Served him right, the self-sacrificing asshole. He looked at his watch as Loki landed a kick to Thor’s shin strong enough to bring him down, this was a bit counterproductive, wasn’t it? Heimdall coughed.

“The car is outside.” It had been outside for a good three minutes, Heimdall didn’t mention.

“Car? What car?” Loki frowned suspiciously at Heimdall.

“The car we’re taking to Vik.”

“What do you mean _we_?” 

“What, you thought that Thor and I were going to abandon you on this expedition?”

“No. Nothing that either of us could say for do would get you to leave Iceland, and we can’t forcefully extract you from the country without causing a scene, more so than you have already done, and alerting the authorities, and therefore _Laufey_ , to your presence. If he were to find out that you were in jail I have no guarantee that you would leave the prison alive.”

“Good.” Loki said, unsure of what do say or do. He had not expected this outcome when he’d spotted his father’s prized butler at the airport. “Alright then, to Vik.” He picked up his suitcase and awkwardly followed the tall man out of the airport. He stared at his bags and then again at the boot. How was anything he had going to fit?

Heimdall looked at him apologetically. **_Oh great_**.

.

Those were the longest four hours of Thor’s life, sitting there in the car with Heimdall and Loki. Thor had managed to call shotgun, a wise move given that he knew that neither Loki nor Heimdall were especially fond of one another and Heimdall was the one driving (somehow the man knew the geography of Iceland, weird).

The journey was only supposed to take two hours, but Heimdall had taken various detours to make sure that they weren’t being followed. So engrossed was he in this awkwardness that Thor didn’t even have it in him to appreciate the rich beauty of the Icelandic landscape, to marvel at the land which had given him his baby brother (and all the problems that he came with) in the first place.

Neither he nor Loki spoke a word to the other. It was oddly reminiscent of that time when they were children and their parents took them out to Norfolk for the holidays and he and Loki had gotten into a huge fight because Loki had used Thor’s laptop without Thor’s permission. Oh, weren’t those the days?

It wasn’t especially hard to figure out where Helblindi and Byleistr were. Loki just sent Byleistr a random text asking him to send pictures because the tiny village sounded ‘cute’. Byleistr, the dolt, did so willingly. Loki loved his brother’s innocence.

Loki did not love the expression on his brothers’ faces when they saw him pull up.

“What are you doing here?” Helblindi yanked Loki inside.

“How did you _find_ us?” Byleistr asked.

“I asked you for photos, remember?” Loki said, innocently.

“What are you doing here?” Helblindi repeated.

“I’m here to help you, of course.”

“‘Of course’? _What do you mean_ ** _‘of course’_** _!?”_

“I was worried about you, and you said you needed all the men you could get,” at this he looked to Byleistr.

“I meant our allies, Loki, people who are professional thugs! You’re just a kid!” Byleistr shouted before spinning on Thor. “And **_you_**! How could you let him come here!?”

“I didn’t know he was coming here until he was on the plane already, and I followed him here to keep him safe.” Thor took a breath. _Of course,_ Loki thought, _Thor was going to denounce him then and there. Of course Thor didn’t agree with him_. “But Loki is right, this fight is his as much as it is yours.”

Byleistr opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Just then the door swung open.

“Sorry I’m late, boys, room on the party for one more?” _Brunnhilde?_

“Who is _she_?” Byleistr questioned.

“Oh, she’s Loki’s old bodyguard. She’s really good.” Thor knew that the two men both had good hearts deep down in there, he also knew that they’d been singlehandedly raised by the most misogynistic man in the known universe. He really hoped they wouldn’t say anything dumb.

Thankfully though, it seemed that they didn’t have the time to do so. Five men appeared, they seemed to be allies, if Helblindi and Byleistr’s reactions were anything to go by. Each of them were **_huge_** , taller and bigger than Thor even, with mean looks and guns sticking out of their pockets.

“Anymore we need to wait for?” Thor asked his brother’s brothers (brothers-in-adoption?)

“No. This is all the men we need. Anymore and it’ll seem like we’re antagonistic. Remember, we’re not trying to start a war with father, we’re trying to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with him. One in which we neither harm him nor does he harm us.” Wow, Thor never would have pegged Byleistr to be the diplomatic type ( _especially_ not after that bar incident). Good for him though! Thor was all for personal growth!

“Aye. Let’s go to Reykjavik.”

.

For early May, the weather was pretty brutal. The winds were being quite harsh, so the men wound up stopping just short of Reykjavik at the tender hour of 8 O’clock at night. The sun still ought to have been up, but the clouds were blocking it. Odd, it seemed like a storm was approaching.

Byleistr had suggested the stop, arguing that driving in the dark when the winds were this bad was a mistake, that the winds were probably strong enough to pick up a sheep and fling it into their car.

So they’d wound up in nearby Gardabaer and had checked into a motel.

There hadn’t been many rooms available, and so they’d decided to put: the five backup men in one room, and the rest of them all in the same room next door.

It was tight, to say the least. The room was about the size of Loki’s room in Thor’s apartment back in London. And there were **_six_** of them. Loki had half a mind to beg to be allowed to sleep in the car. It would also put some distance between him and Thor, which honestly would be quite nice right now.

Thanks to a bunch of handy stereotypes that were still infused into Alpha’s brains, Loki had an easy ticket to sleep on the king sized bed. Brunnhilde got the next seat on it. Byleistr was next on the bed, on account of neither Heimdall nor Thor wanting it, and Helblindi wanting to stay awake as lookout, just incase. Loki understood, Thor was the same way, the patriarch of their brotherhood.

In the dark, quiet as could be, taking advantage of Loki’s inability to fall asleep, Brunnhilde poked him in the back a bunch.

“What?” He groaned, turning over to face her. She drew the covers over both of their heads.

“Why aren’t you and Thor talking?” She whispered, quietly. 

“What do you mean?” Loki whispered back.

“I mean that you and he haven’t spoken a word to each other since I’ve got here… is something wrong?”

“No!” He whispered, a bit too defensively. “Why do you ask?”

Brunnhilde said nothing, but even in the dark Loki could tell that she was giving him a pitying look. Loki hated it when people did that, _pitied him_ , as though they knew him, knew what it was that he was going through at any given moment in time.

Brunnhilde wrapped an arm around him, something he hadn’t expected from the former super-gruff woman who had threatened to body-slam him if he didn’t quit groaning about having to end his date with Leah to come back because Thor had called him without explanation. “Good luck.” She whispered into his ear, before popping back up, turning to Byleistr’s side, and falling asleep.

He knew it! She **_had_** been drinking on the drive over here!

.

“Have you received any word from Thor?” Odin asked Frigga. 

“No, and now _Loki_ won’t even pick up. Odin, I’m worried.” Frigga paced, wringing her hands, a nervous habit she’d acquired that first time they’d caught Loki with a cigarette.

“Same. Heimdall and Brunnhilde are _also_ missing, and neither of them are picking up their phones either, damnit.”

“Well, whatever it is that the four of them are doing, they’re clearly in on it together. We shouldn’t worry ourselves so much, I suppose. Just that Heimdall is with them surely means that they will be okay. He’s the most level-headed man I know.”

“Aye. Why don’t we go out, wife? It’s been a while since I’ve taken you dancing.”

“Hmmm, maybe. If they haven’t picked up by now, I’m sure that it will be quite a while until we hear from them again.”

And so it was, that as Frigga and Odin pulled out of their driveway, and drove down the street, their house exploded, blown up into smithereens. Frigga watched in horror, and with a sense of denial, as the place she’d raised her two boys, the home with all of their memories, turned into a pile of char and ash. As flames enveloped it, grew from the remains of whatever was left of the first floor.

Three of their maids died in that explosion.

“We have to go.” Odin said, his voice grim. “Now, we’ll have to leave the country.”

“And go where, Odin? Where do we go?” 

“To Paris. We’re finding our boys and regrouping. Right now whoever staged this attempt thinks us dead, and by the Norns it’s in our best interests to keep it that way.”

.

Vili stood as he watched his childhood home burn to the ground. Served Odin right, served **_Bor_** right.

“Are you going to rebuild on it later then?” Hela asked, bored.

“Aye. It’s an impressive piece of land, probably a hotel or a stable. Plenty of wealthy people live near here, and there’ll certainly be enough money to do so in whatever money we manage to wrangle from Odin’s Estate.”

“I agree.” Hela nodded, then quick as a viper, she stabbed Vili through the back, skewering his heart. “I hate to let you take the heat for this one, **_brother_** , but you couldn’t have honestly thought that I’d be sharing my newfound inheritance with anyone, could you?” She chuckled at his writhing, gasping, cursing body. She picked him up and dragged him over to the flames, throwing him in. “Bye, bye!” She turned and fled the scene, not wanting to be around when the police and firefighters eventually arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's pretty evident that this story is coming to an end. Thanks to everyone who stuck along this long! I'd estimate somewhere between 2-3 chapters are left, but we'll see! :D


	35. Can you fill it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why the double update? Well, the reason you didn't get an update yesterday was because I'd written half of the chapter and then went off gallivanting the whole day, leaving it unfinished, so I didn't really write most of it today. Anyways, here's today's REAL chapter! Sorry if everything feels a bit rushed.

When Loki awoke it was to the sound of a gun clicking.

“Don’t move.” A voice ordered. The man who was holding the gun. Loki, afraid, complied with this. Beside him, he could feel Brunnhilde do the same, though he’d no clue if she’d woken up before or after him.

“What do you want?” Helblindi spat from the floor. Loki wanted to vomit at the sight. He’d been on guard duty, and from the large gash marring his face, and the tears and ruffles of his **_suit_** he’d definitely put up somewhat of a fight.

“We’re here to take you to Laufey.” Said a gruff voice that Loki recognised. He looked up. _Fenrir_.

“No need, boys!” A voice sang. It was Laufey. The proud businessman strode into the room, confident as ever. “I’m right here.”

The men lowered their weapons. It was then that Loki noticed the pile of weapons on the floor near the door. It seemed that while he had been sleeping all of their weapons had been confiscated. They were doomed, weren’t they?

“What is it that you wish to discuss.” Got Helblindi a kick to the head. 

“ ** _Silence_** , boy. Haven’t you learned by now to only speak when you are spoken to.” Laufey hissed. “Going behind my back- _consorting with the enemy!_ ”

“He is my brother, and you killed my mother!” Helblindi spat back.

Loki looked around at the room, none of the armed men reacted to this. They must all be well-trained. Laufey, however, noticed Loki staring and threw his head back laughing.

“Foolish Omega, these are the same men that murdered your mother! You think this is news to them?” Wait a second, if **_these_** were the men who were with them, then that must mean- “Yes, he finally sees it now. Don’t worry, I’m here to negotiate first.” Laufey looked down at Thor. “Sons, it’s time you heard the truth.”

“What, that you killed my mother?” Helblindi barked. Laufey kicked him again, harder this time.

“I killed that woman for failing in her duties as a wife.” Laufey said, coldly. “An **_Omega son_**? What she’d delivered to me was a violation of nature itself! I knew I could not dispose of the child alone without arousing suspicion, so I needed her dead. You should be **_thanking_** me, I let the whelp live.” Loki could not believe what he was hearing.

Suddenly, a group of men burst through the door. All dressed in black, but the moment that Loki saw the leader’s face (Angrboda’s) he knew who all the men were. The Jotnar. Along with them were another group of men, one he didn’t quite recognise. There was a weird-looking guy in a Hawaiian shirt of all things, with a great grey mask over his face. There was another with a mask of a monster, wearing black leather. There was another nother with a crossbow wearing a kilt and a mask of some purple-y alien creature. Who were these people? 

There was a scuffle then, shots were fired. Loki rolled under the bed, intent on waiting out the fight, but a strong hand grabbed him and hoisted him up. It was Laufey.

“I should have killed you when I had the first chance.” Laufey barked. “Well, I won’t make the same mistake again.” He slammed Loki onto the ground so hard that he thought his shoulder might have dislodged itself, then, in the midst of the scuffle, aimed his gun at Loki.

A shot fired. Loki closed his eyes, awaiting the pain, but none came. Instead, Laufey himself screamed. Loki opened his eyes when he felt a heavy object hit the floor beside him. It was Laufey’s gun. Loki looked up and saw a man, he looked sort of like Fenrir, except not quite, he didn’t have that whole ‘fuckboi’ appeal to say the least. He looked much more serious in general.

“GRLS. Put your hands up!” He ordered, and then a whole team of what looked to be police agents entered the room. They all had their guns drawn and clear protective gear covering them. Aside them entered robots.

Laufey complied, and that was when Loki saw the bullet wound in the man’s hand.

“All of you are under arrest until we can figure out what exactly we’re charging you with. Men, take ‘em in!”

.

They were held in separate rooms in clusters. Finally, when they were brought together to communicate, it was behind glass cubicles so that they couldn’t hurt one another. Loki stared across at his brothers, all three of them, his heart aching to touch them again, and his shoulder aching because, well, **_Laufey_**.

It was him, Helblindi, Byleistr, Thor, Laufey, and Fenrir for some reason that he couldn’t quite ascertain (then, he supposed, his parents had probably alerted the authorities in England about Fenrir, so GRLS probably had some idea that he was involved).

The man that looked a lot like Fenrir took his seat in front of them. They were positioned around him in a circle.

“Brothers, father, Thor.” The man greeted.

“Brothers? What are you talking about?” Byleistr questioned.

“Thirteen years ago, Laufey Nalson killed a man, Paul Hanson. Why? I know not. What I do know was that six years prior to that he had an affair with the man’s wife, Agnes Hanson, and that that affair resulted in the birth of both Fenrir and I.”

“Bull!” Fenrir barked. But Loki noticed that Laufey was quiet, that he was listening… oh. He truly didn’t know, did he? He neither knew if this claim was true or if it was false. That was sad. Loki, on the other hand, knew that the claim was false indeed. He’d had sex with Fenrir multiple times, Fenrir couldn’t be his brother. “I’ve fucked Loki, we’re not related.”

“Oh, I’d beg to differ.” Jormungandr took a pile of documents and threw them over the open ceiling of Fenrir’s cubicle. “There, a DNA test that we ran on you and Laufey, and a second one that we ran on you and me. You’re welcome.”

Fenrir read the papers, and his face turned to ash, but still he insisted, “This is all _bullshit_ is what it is! Siblings can’t fuck!”

“You know, Loki,” Loki didn’t really want to admit it but he didn’t like the way that this agent spun on him (was it even legal to allow family members to interrogate one another, if what this man claimed was true?) “Interesting little perfume you own, _La Séduction_. **_Very_** expensive, they sweat a hell of a lot of Omegas to make the junk.” He took out Loki’s perfume bottle, as in the _very exact same one that ought to be sitting in Loki’s bedroom back in London_. “Good aphrodisiac. Fills the air with pheromones so thick even your own **_brother_** could be affected.” He sprayed the damn thing a few times.

Loki certainly felt a bit more horny, one look at the other Alphas in the room and Loki could tell that it was having the same effect on all of them, more profound even, given that they were all Alpha Males smelling some Omega’s hormones.

Fenrir, desperate, turned to Laufey, as did Loki. But one glance and they both knew that every damned word that the agent had just said was 100% true.

“We-we’re brothers.” Fenrir said, turning green. Everything that the agent said just washed over Loki’s head in waves. It was taking a while to process this situation.

“I… fucked my brother.” Loki said, finally, his legs barely supporting him. His chest hurt from the thrashing his heart was giving it.

“I bought my brother lingerie using my father’s credit card.”

“I fucked an _eighteen year old_.” Loki needed to lie down. Byleistr, Helblindi and Thor all already had. Loki slumped down and stared across the room at Thor, but his brother was looking at his own feet.

“Alright, Sven, take it from here!” The man who was supposedly Loki’s half-brother walked out.

.

Eventually, Loki, Thor, Helblindi and Byleistr were all discharged. They met up with Heimdall and Brunnhilde, who had both been discharged earlier. Heimdall immediately booked them on the next flight to London, which left the next day.

There was one other man there too! The strange one with the rock mask, judging by his Hawaiian shirt.

“Pleasure to meet you, my name’s Korg.” He greeted, with a funny accent that Loki couldn’t quite place. “The Grandmaster sent me.”

“The Grand- _oh_ , aww, that’s so sweet, give him my thanks when you see him next, please.”

“Will do, mate. Unfortunately Ted and Luna didn’t make it out of there.” Neither had half the Jotnar, regrettably. The half that remained made it to the motel too. They made sure that they were in one that was run by Helblindi’s friends for a change.

“Hey, I’m sorry about that fight the other night.” Angrboda Thiazison himself apologised to Loki. Loki had no doubt in his damned mind that Byleistr put him up to it, but Loki accepted the apology, grateful to let the past be in the past. 

At GRLS they’d gotten a doctor to check Loki’s arm out, he’d put it in a cast and told Loki to be **_very_** careful with it and to avoid moving it at all costs. Naturally, Loki had gotten the remaining half of the Jotnar to sign the thing. Oh this was going to be **_priceless_** once Loki got to take it off. Hence why he had shooed away he signatures of Thor, Brunnhilde, Heimdall and Helblindi. He didn’t want three Aesir fans and an **_ex_** Jotnar player ruining the damned thing with their signatures. 

But then he felt bad and let them sign the scraps that were his shirt. It was a win-win.

And then everyone else had gone to sleep, and it was just Loki staring at the fire in the living room (this motel was pretty up-scale. It was more of an apartment than a motel, in Loki’s opinion) when in walked Thor.

They’d barely spoken a word to each other in the past two days, and now here Thor was. Honestly, after everything that had happened today, Loki wasn’t entirely certain that he had the mental strength left to speak to his brother.

“Hey,” Thor said, dragging a blanket in with him. “No space in the other rooms, gonna sleep here.”

“Is that the only reason you came?”

“Not really.” Thor threw the blanket over Loki. Loki looked at his brother. His face was bruised, no doubt it happened during the scuffle. His nose was punched in and half his hair had been shorn off to make way for the emergence of a concerning purple bump on the side of his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry about what, Thor?” Loki asked, voice crisp. He wasn’t even trying to manipulate Thor, he was just tired. It had been a long day- a long **_week_** even, and he was in no mood to be reminded about how his brother had tried to skip town on him. “Sorry that you left me right after my heat? That you abandoned me again.”

“I wanted to move to New York.” Thor said, finally.

“What on earth for?”

“To try again… to try and give you the space you needed, but this time with _me_ leaving, putting a bigger distance between us.” Loki was silent, and Thor’s heart was beating fast, his hands felt clammy.“I-I thought about what you said, and about how this hurt and I realised that you were right and that we can’t just keep going in circles-” Thor spoke fast, his voice nervous.

“Is that what you want?” Loki’s voice interrupted. It wasn’t angry or bitter, it was just tired… and defeated. A voice not typically associated with Loki Odinson.

It took a moment. “Yes.” But even as he said that, he knew that it was a lie. “Yes, because it is what is best for you, brother-”

“That’s not a reason. I asked about _you_. And what **_you_** want.”

“I don’t know what I want.” Thor shook his head. “It’s silly to think that you and I would ever work, Loki. We’re brothers.” Thor sat down on the couch next to Loki.

“I’ve evidence that says otherwise-”

“Why must you make everything sexual!” Thor moved to stand up, but the hand on Loki’s uninjured arm pulled him back.

“I _meant_ on the night… the night where you went to fight Laufey, and you came back, and we kissed.” Loki said, voice soft. “When I was scared and vulnerable, and you-you kissed me-”

“I get it, it was wrong-”

“-and held me, and made me feel safe.” Loki shook his head. “Why do I even bother? It’s not like you care. Just go on then, go to America.”

“You act like I _want_ this!”

“Then why are you doing it, Thor! I _love you_! I’ve **_always_** loved you!” Loki sobbed. “Dammit, I can’t take this, not today! I almost _died_ today… just go pack your bags, have it your way, I don’t care anymore, I don’t.” He sniffed, wiping his nose with the cast. Oh well, guess it was less ‘priceless’ now.

“I’m confused,” Brunnhilde whispered, behind the door, to the others. “So… are they getting together or not?”

“I’ve had to wait eight long years to know that answer, you can wait eight more damned minutes.” Heimdall muttered.

Thor groaned and collapsed on the couch. “I love you too.” He said, finally, voice near-quiet, barely audible over Loki’s weak sniffles. “I want you. I know it’s probably just my biology… but I can’t stop thinking about you, settling down with _you_ , having children with _you_. I’d never cheated before in my life, and yet I just couldn’t stop myself from sleeping with you. If sleeping with you had _truly_ meant nothing to me, do you really think that I would have broken it off with Jarnsaxa?” Thor shook his head.

Behind the door, Helblindi and Byleistr’s respective jaws both dropped. O.M.G.

“So then why can’t we at least try to _make_ it work?” Loki asked his brother, feeling slightly lightheaded from the crying. He could use a glass of water.

“It’s too complicated, Loki. We’re registered as brothers- how would we ever get married?”

“I’m adopted, we’ll just find my original birth certificate and present that. I’ll change my surname to-to _Laufeyson_.” Loki pulled a face.

“And what about our friends? They’d all know, even if the law itself didn’t.”

“I have a feeling they’ll adjust to it well.” Loki remarked, dryly. Like hell was he going to tell his puppy-dog of a brother that half the damned country already knew.

“And what of future children? What would they even call us? Would I be father or uncle?”

“Father, you dolt. You’re not my real brother. If I’ve learned anything these past few weeks, it’s that that baby will have _lots_ of aunts and uncles, and neither of us will even need to be included.” Loki sniffed, a smile forming on his face. He crawled forwards until he was sitting in Thor’s lap. “Thor, we almost died today. I think that we can handle something as minor as this.”

“The tabloids are going to have a field day.”

“I don’t hear a no.”

Smiling, Thor brushed aside a strand of Loki’s hair.

And bent down for a kiss.

“Let’s head to the pub, boys, drinks on me.” Brunnhilde smiled.

“‘Saxa is **_not_** going to be happy about this.” Helblindi remarked.

Byleistr, meanwhile, was still trying to figure out if he was supposed to be more angry about the fact that Thor was dating Loki or that Thor had cheated on Jarnsaxa with Loki. Oh this was so confusing. He really needed that drink that Brunnhilde was promising everyone.

.

The next morning the Brits flew back home. Hela was back in jail with a DUI. Tyr had fled the country, taking his soccer career with him (Loki had completely missed that Odin’s son Tyr was **_the_** Tyr somehow). Uncle Vili had been found as the sole perpetrator of the bombing of their house. Frigga’s greatest lament was all their lost baby photos. Thor’s eye-roll was on account of the fact that his mother had forgotten about the backup hard drive that they kept in Norfolk, and made a mental note to upload it to the Cloud.

And then, of course, came the big news. It was met by an odd amount of acceptance from their parents, in Thor’s opinion.

“Just have fun and don’t rush anything. You don’t want it to fizzle out like that engagement your had with Jane.” Frigga reminded.

“ ** _Mother_**!” Thor whined.

“What? I’m going to be the bride’s mother too!” Frigga winked. “So, are you two going to tell Jarnsaxa or what?”

“How do you know about all of that?”

“Don’t you know boy?” Frigga teased, poking Thor’s nose. “I was raised by witches.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the epilogue, and it will be LONG!


	36. Ever after we lived, The End

Loki had a month until finals. Less than, technically, but almost a full month. He’d barely been able to study the whole year.

It. Was. Hell.

He’d never studied so hard in his life.

He got a first.

.

Laufey went to jail for a **_really_** long time. They’d found enough evidence to not only indict him on Paul Hanson and Farbauti’s murders, but several other peoples’ as well, including politicians.

Fenrir, after serving four months in prison, was offered a job at GRLS. ‘Someone’ had put in a good word for him.

.

Thor was a lot more clingy as of late. One day he just broke down crying.

“I almost lost you!” He sobbed, clinging onto Loki as though he were about to leave him forever. “We almost died in that fight!”

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay.” Loki soothed his brother. But it wasn’t, and Loki knew it because he felt it too. That same rush of fear anytime there was a loud noise. Those same bad dreams that woke him up in the middle of the night, that made him open his eyes to check and make sure that Thor was still there and alive and breathing.

They started taking therapy together after that.

.

The next stage of Loki’s life was his Masters. He’d gotten a high enough grade to stay on at UCL, so that was what he decided to do.

It also kept him closer to Thor, to his mate. He knew that one day soon they’d have to kiss London goodbye, move to Birmingham so that Thor could take over his father’s company. And yes, it was legally **_his_** father’s company, as Loki had changed his name by deed poll to Loki Laufeyson. It was okay, he reasoned, because he’d be getting his old name back as soon as they were married.

Thor went into Rut the first month of Loki’s summer holiday, and they fucked like rabbits. It was so nice to be able to do this open and honestly, not only fuelled by hormones but also fuelled by their **_very official_** relationship.

Loki panted under Thor as the Alpha, who was **_supposed_** to be mindlessly fucking into him (which honestly, at the moment, sounded quite nice) was taking things **_agonisingly_** slowly.

Thor chuckled at Loki’s impatience (Loki was 99.9% certain that Alphas were **_not_** supposed to bee able to chuckle during their Rut. That fucking snake!) “What ever’s the matter, **_brother_**?” Loki was also unsettled by how fast Thor seemed to come to accept this whole ‘brother’ thing. Loki’d thought he’d have at _least_ a few more years to tease Thor with it, but evidently not.

“You’re going too slow! Fuck me already!” Loki pouted.

“You heard mother, we’ve got to take things _nice and slow_.”

“You’re bringing up our **_mother_** in the middle of sex, Thor?” Loki glared at his brother. He could feel his own nether regions drying up like the Sahara Desert. Chuckling, Thor **_finally_** graced his bottom lips with his mouth, and Loki’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as his brother wet him with his tongue, playing with his balls, rolling them between his fingers, getting him ready for a good, hard pounding.

And a good hard pounding he _did_ get. Thor grabbed him and all-but smothered Loki’s face into the headboard as he plowed into him from behind. It was the first time that the pair had had sex since Loki’s heat back in Paris (If Loki had to hear Thor quoting Frigga on ‘taking it slow’ one more damned time, he was going to buy a gun somehow (he was pretty sure he could find an arms dealer through En) and shoot the pair full of holes).

Loki orgasmed upon feeling Thor’s knot enter him. This felt so damned **_good_**! Later, when they came down from their high, and Thor’s knot had deflated, Thor turned to Loki. “Good?”

“Good.”

Thor traced his hand along the juncture of Loki’s neck and shoulder. “I should really renew that bite, it’s been a while.”

“Why didn’t you do it when we were fucking?” 

“I wanted your permission first.” Loki kicked him. “Ow, what was that for?”

“You don’t need my permission, I know you’d never do anything not in my best interest.” Loki mumbled. “I’m tired.”

He felt Thor turn into him and grind a bit against his back. His eyes shot open. “Again, really? It’s been twenty minutes!”

“I’m in **_Rut_** , Lokes. This is what you signed up for.” Thor teased, kissing up and down the side of Loki’s chest.

“I’m too tired. Try again in three months?” Loki received a flick to the ear for that. “What? I thought _you_ were the one about ‘taking it slow’.”

“Urgh, you’re right, it _is_ a turn off to hear mom’s words in bed.” Thor groaned as his beautiful, beautiful mate chuckled beside him.

.

Loki didn’t **_intend_** to run into Leah. But of course, they lived in the same city, it was bound to happen eventually. And she was with Daimon, because of course they were.

Leah took one look at him and smiled. “So the big oaf finally realised, huh?”

“How did you know?”

“I’m not blind… good luck, you two deserve each other.” She nodded to him awkwardly, grabbing her boyfriend and leaving.

It was the weirdest interaction in his life to date… but it was odder that it felt like there was less weight on his chest (he hadn’t even known that there was weight there to begin with).

.

Thor was happy to see Loki return mostly to normal. That whole Anorexia thing had terrified him. It was scary watching somebody so close to you intentionally ruin their life.

Now?

Loki sat on the couch, sliders, ice cream, and chicken wings at the ready. He’d eaten all of the sausage rolls again, like he was **_trying_** to interfere with Thor’s perfect day (not that Thor really cared, to be quite honest. He just liked that Loki was eating).

“Hurry up, Thor! The game starts in twenty minutes!” The Aesir were playing the Jotnar today. Helblindi and Byleistr had offered them tickets, but they’d declined. They were perfectly content watching it on the telly.

“Who do you think’s gonna win?” Thor asked, munching on a chicken wing?

“Well, half the original Jotunn team is now _dead_ , but this **_is_** Byleistr’s last game ever, so they’re probably going to be giving it their all. On the other hand, Tyr was the Aesir’s best damned goalkeeper in the past century, and now **_he’s_** gone, so…”

“Tough to tell, I see. Who do you **_want_** to win?”

Loki was quiet for a while. “Don’t be mad.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean, he’s my **_brother_** , and it’s his last game ever…” Byleistr had found a girlfriend, and at the tender age of 27, decided to retire early and settle down with her. Loki thought it was a little bit silly to be surrendering yourself to someone you’d only known six months, but then again he’d been Thor’s on-the-side (he only used that term because Thor **_hated_** it so much) for months while he’d been with Jarnsaxa and Jane, and he’d been convinced that him and Thor would get married through the whole thing, so really, what did he know?

And Jul was quite nice, and baked yummy cookies, and petted his hair. Thor, laughing, had accused Loki of wanting somebody to baby him. Loki had eaten his cookie and stared at Thor with complete indifference.

.

Loki graduated top of his class with a master’s degree in Neuroscience. He’d written his thesis on the psychology of Omegas in Heat and wound up receiving an offer by the University to stay on and do a Doctorate in that field. After discussing it with his family, he’d wound up staying on.

.

It was a complete accident, learning that he was pregnant.

Thor had frowned at him and asked him if he’d bought a new perfume. Loki said he hadn’t. Loki’d walked past a pub, a sleazy Alpha who was eager to get his hands on the young and attractive Omega had catcalled him…

And one of that sleazy Alpha’s friends had sniffed the air, grimaced, and said “Don’t bother, he’s pregnant.”

Now, Loki was 1508% certain that he wasn’t pregnant (hence why he hadn’t studied maths at university). He even bought a home pregnancy test to prove it!

Except that the stupid, faulty test said that he **_was_** pregnant. Nevermind that, Loki’d been suspicious of it upon seeing the price tag. He went and bought a more **_expensive_** pregnancy test… which also came back positive.

Fine, that was fine. Sometime tests did that, he knew it wasn’t **_impossible_** to get two false positives. Which was why he went and saw a trained physician who **_also_** mistakingly told Loki that he was pregnant.

Which lead to Loki complaining about his shitty day to Thor, which led to Thor hugging Loki as he cried because _how could he be pregnant_!? He was only 24, dammit!

Which lead to a brief discussion about how Loki could decide for himself whether or not he wanted to keep the baby, which lead to Loki smacking Thor and saying ‘you idiot, how could I get rid of something that’s half _you_!” Which lead to discussions about naming rights as well as speculation on the gender of the baby.

Naturally.

.

Thor had all-but forced Loki to marry him. No, literally. He’d spent the entire morning of the proposal going over all the consequences of not being married when the little thing finally made its way earth-side. Loki had rolled his eyes and asked Thor to marry him, if only to shut his rambling brother up. Flabbergasted, Thor meekly accepted.

Which meant that now, on top of Loki’s doctoral studies, he also had to plan a wedding. And Thor wanted a damned bouncy castle at it. _For the children_ , he’d pleaded. Loki was willing to bet that Thor was one of those ‘children’.

He and Thor were watching TV one night, the coffee table covered in wedding invites (they’d decided **_not_** to invite Jarnsaxa, which Helblindi and Byleistr both heartily encouraged. To say the least, the man hadn’t taken it all too well when he’d found out about Loki being Laufey’s son. He’d had a meltdown during which he’d broken a chair with his bare hands and challenged Loki to a fight, and also called him a gold-digging, brother-fucking whore. It had taken both Helblindi and Byleistr to restrain Loki as he moved to beat up that bloody bitch). The door swung open, and in its frame stood an eye-twitching, ragged woman with matte black hair.

Hela.

“You! You two have ruined everything!” She lunged at them. She had a _knife_.

It became apparent, in the first twenty seconds of her attack, that her main target was the four-month pregnant Loki. Loki side-stepped her, only narrowly avoiding d’Artagnan getting skimmed by her blade.

“Loki, run!” Thor ordered, throwing the coffee table at the crazed psycho bitch. Thor didn’t have to tell Loki twice. Loki went to hide in his and Thor’s room, locking the door behind him, he grabbed his phone, and then went to go and hide in the bathroom, lest Hela get past Thor. H called 999.

Meanwhile, Thor was engaged in battle against Hela, She swung her knife at him, but he’d managed to pick up a copper tray with which to defend himself, and even managed to get some kicks in at her. He had no idea what to do, and could only **_pray_** that his brother had called the cops.

“Why are you doing this?” Thor asked, as she cornered him quite close to their terrace.

“Did you _really_ think that I was just going to sit back and let that brat steal my inheritance? No, didn’t think so!” She smacked the tray away from him. “Farewell, **_nephew_**.” She slammed her knife into Thor’s face, piercing Thor’s eye. Thor was in complete and utter agony, but in that moment, adrenaline pumping through him at the thought of someone attacking his mate and unborn child, Thor seized Hela’s knife-less opportunity to pick his screaming and squirming aunt up and throw her over the terrace.

It was a 20 metre fall. She landed with a scream and a splat. Thankfully she didn’t fall onto someone else.

The police were there in four minutes. EMTs rushed Thor to the nearest hospital.

Loki was there when he woke up.

“We have to stop doing this.” Thor groaned. “This whole hospital thing.”

Loki gave Thor a huge hug and broke down sobbing on him. “I thought you were dead. I was so scared that she’d managed to pierce through your eye to get to your brain.”

“I’d need a brain for her to damage it.” Thor winked… or, he supposed **_blinked_** … dammit… he didn’t have an eye. He felt his remaining eye tear up as a rush of panic hit him. He. Didn’t. Have. An. Eye. Did that mean he was going to go blind?

Loki kissed his brother’s head. “Mother and father are coming over.”

“Again? They must get so tired of our antics.”

“We’ve given them two headache free years, I think they can manage… thank you, for protecting us.”

“I’m your Alpha, it’s what I do. D’Artagnan okay?”

“Yes, he’s fine. He’s in there waiting for daddy to get better.”

“Shouldn’t be too long.” Thor put up a brave front. “Guess you’ll be marrying a pirate.”

“I guess so.”

.

Loki crawled all over Thor. He’d insisted, as Thor’s eye was still healing, that Loki himself take charge in bed. He was seven months pregnant, which made it a little hard to move. He placed a kiss on the bandage that covered his lover’s mutilated eye, before sinking down.

Thor moved his hands to support Loki as he impaled himself on Thor’s cock. Loki’s chest was getting heavier by the day. Thor had made it clear to Loki that the moment they started weaning the baby, Loki’s breastmilk belonged to Thor.

Afterwards they laid in bed together, and Thor gave Loki a back rub, kissing between his shoulder blades.

It was awkward, this permanent disfigurement of Thor’s face… but they’d get through it, they always did, didn’t they?

.

The baby shower was fun. Byleistr had come with Jul and their twins, Ragna and Ragan. God bless the poor teachers who had to call on the pair at school.

“Think ‘Blindi will ever marry?” Loki asked his brother, popping back an entire glass of apple juice.

“If you ask him he’ll say he’s married to his work. But there _is_ a hot secretary in his office.”

“Norns, no. That’s just asking for a lawsuit.”

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right.”

.

Their wedding was in the back garden of the newly rebuilt Odinson Estate. It was beautiful. There were doves released at the end, and a bunch of rabbits for the hoards of children Thor had invited. Thor and children, Loki shook his head fondly, he supposed it was easy to be comfortable around one’s peers.

True to Loki’s word, Thor wound up in the bouncy castle. So had Fandral.

**_Obviously_**.

They’d had kinky newly-wed sex that night, Loki had come into the room in a cheap bridal dress he’d found online, garters and all (he’d worn a suit to his wedding), and Thor had ripped away the panties underneath them with his teeth.

.

Loki brought their son into the world exactly one month after their wedding, right after they’d come home from honeymooning up north in Glasgow (Thor had promised Loki a proper honeymoon for their 10th).

It was a little thing, born on the small side, just barely 2.5kgs. He had black hair and brilliant blue eyes. He reminded Loki of…

“Módi.” He whispered. He looked up at Thor, pleadingly. “Brother, please?”

“Módi it is.” D’Artagnan had been a little joke between them (or so Thor had hoped), he’d no intention of letting his child get bullied over a whim of Loki’s while watching the Three Musketeers for a fourth time during his pregnancy. The little boy was an Omega, it seemed a fitting tribute to the deceased little baby whose ashes were likely still floating across Dagenham Brook.

.

Helblindi married one Janice Shiraz, an Australian born Omega. 

Jarnsaxa was at this wedding, just as he’d been at Byleistr’s.

Loki drank the whole night. Quick glances across the room told him that Jarnsaxa was doing the same.

.

Eventually their London life had to come to an end. Odin passed away in his sleep at the tender age of 62 from a heart attack. A tearful Loki had blamed it on the stresses in Odin’s life, from work to that hectic episode all those years ago.

They moved into the Birmingham residence full-time. Odin had been grooming Thor for the position of boss for about three years by that point, Thor constantly having to go away on business trips, coming back to spend the weekends with his children. They’d tried to keep this fantasy up too long.

They made sure to take care of Frigga, who in turn was delighted that her three, lovely grandchildren (and her one pregnant child-child) had moved in full time. 

Loki had made Thor **_swear_** that they weren’t getting pregnant again. They’d both agreed to have their respective reproductive bits snipped/tied. It would be safer that way, they reasoned. Loki was in his early thirties, he wasn’t going to be too fertile unless he was in heat, and for those moments they had birth control.

Loki sat, hands over his belly, as Módi, Thrud, and Narfi ran around playing tag. Loki thought that it was a bit unfair for them all to be playing together, personally, given that Narfi was four and had short legs, but he supposed that as long as Narfi didn’t feel too bad about _alway_ being ‘it’ then there was really no harm done.

“Those are some cute kids you and Thor had.” Frigga smiled, the lines in her cheeks showing. Loki didn’t care, he thought his mother looked as beautiful as the day they’d first met… granted, he couldn’t remember that day, but whatever.

“Bloody pests are what they are.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“No… but I really hope this one’s a girl. Thrud’s been the easiest to parent so far. She **_listens_**. Nothing like her brothers at all.”

Frigga chuckled. “Did I ever tell you about that time you ‘made our walls pretty’ by running up and down them all over the house with some purple and cyan paints that some construction workers had left? That was the week Odin and I terminated our search for a new child.”

“I was that bad, huh?”

Frigga pinched Loki’s cheek “You were the worst.”

.

They died together. well, not together-together, Thor went first, in his sleep, at the age of 84. Loki went just a few weeks later, days shy of his 81st birthday, also in his sleep.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's not LONG LONG, but it's still a few hundred more than the last few chapters.
> 
> (Mostly because I'm a soulless monster who wanted this story to be EXACTLY 100k words)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who stuck it through to the end! Sorry that this story, in parts, had too many things to properly go into without getting even more boring than I'm sure it became.
> 
> See you in the other stories! XOXO


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